National Commission for Minorities probes Communal violence in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur : A team from National Commission for Minorities (NCM), under Ministry of Minority Affairs, today started investigation into communal violence which was flared up from Mango on July 20 night and led to immense violence.

The team comprising Praveen Davar and Ajaib Singh visited Daiguttu in Mango where two groups clashed on July 20 and took statements of minorities members who were present at the site.

The members also visited Dimna Road in Mango which witnessed protests and looting of shops owned by minorities on July 21 by bandh supporters.

The team members also took statements of victims of the violence (those whose shops were looted or damaged) and later held meeting with the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amitabh Kaushal, Dhalbhum sub divisional magistrate Alok Kumar and East Singhbhum SSP Anoop T. Mathew at the Circuit House in the afternoon.

Talking to the newsmen, Praveen Davar� said that the commission took cognizance of the communal violence on the basis of media reports.

The commission members also directed the district administration to ensure that those affected in the violence must be given compensation at the earliest.

It may be mentioned that a two-member probe team comprising Kolhan commissioner and DIG was constituted by the state chief minister Raghubar Das on July 21 morning and asked to submit report on the communal violence.

The commissioner and DIG gathered the details into the incident from July 21 till July 30 and had submitted report on August 1 to the additional home secretary.

Tension prevailed in the steel city after communal clashes at Mango locality. The dispute started after a group of three bike-borne youths belonging to a particular community opened fire in the air at Gandhi Maidan in Mango where a fair was organised as a part of Eid celebrations on Monday night.

Soon after the trio tried to molest two girls near the Payal cinema and also brandished fire-arms to the local residents in adjoining Daiguttu locality.

The situation was under control, but tense, after a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), a police inspector and many others were injured in three hours of brick batting and stone pelting between two communities in Mango area.

Locals put up a blockade near Daigutu Chowk after the incident to which people from the other community objected. The war of words soon turned into brick-batting, stone pelting and reportedly several rounds of firing in the air from both sides. Several shops in the area were also damaged in the incident.