Violence Erupts Near Temple in Jabalpur, Police Deployed After Stone Pelting and Chaos

New Delhi: A major dispute broke out in Azad Chowk, Ward No. 5 in Sehora tehsil of Jabalpur district, at around 9 pm on Thursday night. Here the Durga temple and the mosque are opposite to each other, and that is why the area is already considered a bit sensitive. An altercation first started here, which soon turned into a clash and stone pelting.

How did the controversy start?

Aarti was going on in the temple at night, during which some people came to the mosque to offer namaz. Meanwhile, the discussion escalated between some youths from both sides. A debate started on some small matter, then some people raised slogans, the atmosphere became heated. It is alleged that a youth tried to break or broke the grill of the temple, due to which the people on the other side got angry and a clash started.

How did stone pelting and uproar increase?

Then within no time people gathered from both sides. The matter escalated so much that stone pelting started. There was an uproar and chaos in the area for about 10 minutes. Some people are said to be lightly injured, but the administration says that no one was seriously injured nor was there any major damage to any religious place.

How did the police control the situation?

As soon as the police received the news, they immediately reached the spot. Light lathi charge was carried out and tear gas shells were also released to disperse the crowd. Gradually the situation came under control. As a precaution, more police forces were called in the area, especially additional forces were called from Jabalpur.

Collector Raghavendra Singh and SP Sampat Upadhyay also reached the spot. He himself took charge of the situation and checked the security arrangements.

What did the administration say about the situation?

Police have appealed to the people not to pay attention to rumors and maintain peace. Shops that were open till late at night were closed and those roaming on the streets were advised to return home. The administration clearly says that now everything is under control, legal action will be taken after investigation.

SP Sampat Upadhyay said that the police took immediate action as soon as the information was received, no religious place was damaged and there were no casualties. Adequate forces are deployed in the area, peace is completely maintained.

This area has been in the news earlier also due to minor disputes, hence the administration is already extra cautious. Hopefully everything will be fine now and people will live together.