Telangana: 18 people injured in clash between two groups over road widening in Janwada
Hyderabad: 18 people, including women and children, were injured in an alleged clash over the issue of road widening in Janwada village of Narsingi late on Tuesday night. Three victims suffered head injuries and were admitted to Gandhi Hospital.
The reason for the dispute is said to be the construction of cement-concrete (CC) road from Mirzaguda village to Janwada. While a group of villagers demanded that the road in front of the Methodist Church be widened, others protested claiming it would encroach on their land.
Alternatively, members of the Christian community have reportedly suggested that the size of the new road should be the same as the previous one. The dispute soon escalated into a fight between the two groups, during which one group allegedly vandalized the church, pelted stones and destroyed its properties.
Speaking to TNIE, a relative of one of the victims said, “My people belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community were verbally abused and beaten with iron rods and sticks. They pelted stones at the church and also destroyed the Holy Cross.
Police reached the spot twenty minutes after the incident. Subsequently, Section 3 of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and sections 447 (criminal trespass), 295A (deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious feelings), 504 (verbal disrespect), 506 (criminal intimidation) Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 148 (rioting) IPC were registered.
Similarly, another group filed a counter-FIR alleging that church members gathered illegally and disrupted the construction work. “They threw stones and bricks from the church towards the complainant and the public,” the FIR reads. The complaint also said that three villagers were attacked during the fight. Here too, a case was registered on charges of unlawful assembly, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons.
11 arrested, section 144 applied
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state unit president Dr RS Praveen Kumar visited Janwada on Wednesday. “More than 200 people attacked the families inside the church with iron rods and sticks. He did not spare even a single polio patient,” said Praveen Kumar.
Alleging that members of the BJP and BRS were involved in the attack, he said, “Though the reason for the conflict may be widening of the road, it is completely based on hatred.”
The BSP leader also said that after continuous protests in Janwada, the police arrested 11 accused on Wednesday. Later the police took him into precautionary custody. Cyberabad Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty imposed Section 144 of CrPC in Mokila police station limits to protect human life and safety from danger. The order is in effect from February 14 to February 21 and prohibits gatherings of more than five people.
