Temple vandalised, house set ablaze; communal clash in Karimganj

If it was chaos in Karimganj’s Dhoalia area, then now it has transformed into a carnage. February 5, 2019, an Arabic teacher in a higher secondary school was accused of molestation. Patharkandi Police station was informed about the incident and a report was filed. The accused was mobbed by the locals and is currently being treated in a local hospital.

This incident resulted in a communal clash between two communities. Since February 5, 2019, both Hindu and Muslim communities staged multiple roadblocks, marches, memorandums and demonstrations.

Yesterday, the protests turned to violence. As per a senior officer in Patharkandi Police station, there was a land dispute which came to light a day before yesterday and according to him, “Was the main reason why it took a violent shape.” He said, “What we have come to know so far is that a group of people went and set a house on fire. They also took a Shani idol from a roadside temple and threw it on a nearby field.”

According to our sources in Karimganj, houses of Anjali Deb and Bishu Nath were damaged, a rubber garden was torched and a Shani temple was vandalised. Paramilitary forces are deployed to restore peace and a dog squad is used to aid the investigation.

“DC, SP and other senior officials of the administration visited the spot and are in constant touch with the Patharkandi Police Station,” informed a senior official in Karimganj administration.

Forces in large numbers are stationed in a local school in order to restore peace in the locality. It is reported that the teacher accused of molesting a minor is the vice president of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind.