Rajasthan communal violence: Curfew extended till April 10 in Karauli

The curfew in violence-hit Karauli of Rajasthan was extended till April 10 on Thursday as a precautionary measure. However, the curfew will be relaxed by three hours from Friday.

The curfew was imposed after incidents of arson and vandalism on Saturday in the wake of stone-pelting at a bike rally on Nav Samvatsar (Hindu New Year). The bike rally was passing through a Muslim-dominated area.

The rally was taken out by right-wing organisations, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal. Around 35 people were injured in the violence.

Congress has called it an attempt to polarise people whereas the Opposition BJP termed the violence “a planned conspiracy”. A seven-member delegation of the BJP today submitted its report to the state president Satish Poonia and the party’s state incharge Arun Singh.

Rathore said police had done videography of the rally but did not act against prime accused Amimuddin and Matloob Khan even as they were part of the peace committee meeting after the violence.

Rathore said people associated with organisations like the PFI are involved in the incident.

“The administration promised that it will file a report against the miscreants. However, under the pressure of the Rajasthan government and Congress leaders, injustice is being done to the victims by the government and administration,” he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh, MLA Rafiq Khan and Lalit Yadav, who were part of the Congress investigation team, also visited Karauli and discussed the situation with officials and enquired about the incident from the local people.

Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said the conspiracy was hatched to polarise people.