Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s appeal to the officials on Monday that those responsible for communal violence in Khargone, Rajgarh and Barwani should be dealt with an iron hand seems to have paid off.
The communal clashes in Khargone led to the death of one person and caused injuries to many people on April 10 when Ram Navami procession was being taken out. One and a half months have passed since the riots took place in the district, but the district administration came up with certain measures to maintain communal harmony in the district after Chouhan’s appeal to maintain peace.
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As part of the measures section 144 under CrPc reimposed in the district on May 12 will remain in force till July 10, official sources said on Wednesday. Nonetheless, there were no reports of communal clash in the district after April 10. According to the order, section 144 has been reimposed in Khargone as preventive measure and processions and religious functions in public places will not be allowed till July 10. District magistrate Kumar Purushottam and superintendent of police Dharamveer Yadav interacted with residents of various localities in the district.
Their efforts were to restore trust between the two communities who have been peacefully living in the city for decades. Both the officials have advised the residents not to let such incidents as cause violence take place, and if that happens, the culprits will be severely punished. Puroshottam and Yadav visited one of the riot-hit areas, Bhatwadi, in Khargone city on Monday night.
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They said that they had gone to the area to assure the residents that no such incidents would be allowed to happen in future, so the residents should not worry. Just after five days of communal clashes in Khargone, former collector Anugraha P and superintendent of police Siddharth Choudhary were transferred. Anugraha P was shifted to MP Bhawan in Delhi as officer on special duty and Choudhary to the police headquarters in Bhopal as Additional Inspector General.
