Bhopal: There seems to be no end in sight to communal clashes in Madhya Pradesh. After Khargone, Rajgarh and Barwani, Rewa district of the state witnessed communal clashes on Wednesday, official sources said on Thursday.
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More than ten people, belonging to both communities, were injured in the violence which resulted from an altercation over a plot of land in the Mangawan area, 30km from the district headquarters, the police said. The violence broke out when members of the two communities claimed the ownership of a government land where a temple and a mosque stand side by side. An altercation over the issue turned into a major clash.
According to the police, when a former councillor of the Bharatiya Janata Party started construction on the land, people belonging to the other community objected to it. They said that the land belonged to the mosque. On getting information, a large number of people belonging to both communities rushed to the spot and began to fight with one another. As soon as the police got information, they reached the spot and brought the situation under control. They said that members of both the communities attacked one another with sticks and stones.
Those who suffered injuries in the incident were rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, the police said. The police further said that members of both the communities lodged complaints against one another and that cops were deployed in the area to maintain peace. Mangawan police in charge DK Dahiya said that the land belongs to the government and that a mosque and a temple have existed there for many years.
Superintendent of police S Navneet Bhasin also reached the spot and interacted with people. He said that an FIR had been lodged against 11 people in connection with the incident.
The first communal clash took place in Khargone on April 10 this year when the Ram Navami procession was being taken out. One person was killed in the incident. On the heels of Khargone violence, Rajgarh and Barwani areas witnessed communal clashes.
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In the aftermath of the incidents of violence, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed to the officials as well as to the people on Monday to maintain communal harmony at all costs. Reacting to the violence in Rewa, a Congress leader said that the government seemed to have lost its control over rioters.
