Bengaluru: The Ganesh idol immersion procession in Nagamangala town of Mandya district on Wednesday night turned violent after two different religious groups engaged in stone pelting at each other near a mosque leading to tense situation on Nagamangala-Mysuru road. Later, stone pelting escalated and led to several shops and business establishments being torched by the groups before police intervention brought the situation under control.The idol immersion procession started from Badrikoppalu in Nagamangala town and trouble started after reaching “Ya Allah Masjid”on Nagamangala-Mysuru road at around 9 pm.As many as 54 persons engaged in stone pelting in Nagamangala town have been arrested by the police and as a precautionary measure, district administration, Mandya imposed prohibitory orders in the town till Saturday. Schools and Colleges were declared holiday on Thursday owing to the tense situation in Nagamangala.Over the incident, Minister for Home Dr G. Parameshwar told reporters in Bengaluru the incident cannot be termed communal violence since the stone pelting happened at the spur of the moment. Police acted swiftly and brought the situation under control and as a precautionary measure, a platoon of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) was stationed which helped in bringing the situation under control in a quick time.Parameshwar said in the stone pelting incident an Assistant Sub-Inspector sustained injuries and further action will be initiated against erring persons after verification of cctv footage installed at convenient locations in Nagamangala town.Mandya Superintendent of Police Mallikarjun Baladandi said investigations are underway to ascertain whether the stone pelting was pre-planned one and stated normalcy returned to Nagamangala town after violence.An eyewitness stated the procession raised slogans in favour of Lord Ganesh and the procession went smoothly until some persons belonging to a particular community could not tolerate the slogan shouting took to stone pelting at the procession.The eyewitness stated the persons from a particular community hurled not only stones but also pelted soft drink bottles and attacked people and police with iron rods and sticks.A scrap dealer Rizwan wanted persons responsible for setting his shop on fire be punished and he put the loss he sustained in the fire incident at Rs 10 lakh. Another fruit seller Maaz suffered damages to his stall after a mob set it on fire. “I have sustained a huge loss,” added Maaz.Reacting to the violence in Nagamangala, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok stated “It is a glaring example of how the Congress government has let anti-national elements capture the State leading to complete collapse of law and order.” He warned the Congress party will pay a huge price for this attack on Hindus.Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated his government’s top priority has been maintenance of peace and tranquility in the society and appealed to the people not to heed to rumours so that peace and tranquility is threatened.
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