Two persons have been arrested for allegedly making provocative posts and spreading rumours on social media, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Sachin Singh Ambedkar and Rahul Gautam, had made the controversial posts on 5 May in the wake of the clashes in Shabbirpur village, Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chand Dubey said.
The posts were made to spread rumours and disrupt communal harmony, he said.
The cyber crime department of the city police tracked down the suspects after which a case was filed against them and they were held, the SSP said.
Two Police Officers Transferred
Two police officers were also transferred from their posts a day after a police post was burnt and several vehicles torched in the violence.
SP (City) Sanjay Singh and SP (Rural) Rafeeq Ahmed have been transferred from Saharanpur, official sources said. While Prabal Pratap Singh is the new SP (City), Vidya Sagar takes over from Ahmed.
Several instances of stone-pelting and clashes were reported on Tuesday from across Saharanpur, which has been witnessing caste-based violence since Friday. However, peace prevailed in the city on Wednesday.
30 Arrested in Connection With the Violence
As many as 30 people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the incidents. District Magistrate NP Singh said the situation is now under control.
He and Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey held a meeting with local representatives of political parties. The two senior officials asked them to help in maintaining peace.
The SSP said the police will scrutinise CCTV footage to identify and arrest the people involved in stone-pelting and torching the police chowki and vehicles on Wednesday.
The SSP said Rampur Maniharan police have arrested 11 persons for stone-pelting on vehicles on the Saharanpur highway. The rest were arrested from different police station areas.
The district magistrate said the district has been divided into five zones and 19 sectors for better maintenance of the law-and-order situation, and a magistrate has been tasked to keep an eye on the situation.
A violent clash broke out between the police and a group of Dalits, allegedly belonging to the Bheem Army, in the Ramnagar area of Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur on 9 May.
The mob had called a mahapanchayat and had blocked roads to protest the violence in Shabbirpur last week. When the police intervened and asked them to refrain from holding the mahapanchayat, the mob turned violent and allegedly set vehicles on fire. Around 10-12 bikes, a car, and a private bus were set ablaze.
Police claimed that the people had been asked to disperse because they had not taken permission from the district administration for the mahapanchayat, reported Hindustan Times.
Following the dispersal of the mahapanchayat, Dalits sat on dharna, while other Dalit groups torched vehicles of journalists and police.
The mob torched the Ramnagar police post while many passersby were also assaulted. The ADM of police and several other police personnel were injured in the stone pelting.
At least six police officers, including the Additional District Magistrate of police, were injured in the attack, according to the HT report. Many were also injured in the ensuing lathicharge and the rubber bullets used by the police to disperse the crowd. Dalits claimed that at least 100 people were injured, reported HT.
According to reports, the situation was eventually brought under control. The Quint reached out to top police officials in Saharanpur but they were not available for comment.
Conflicting Reports on What Caused the Clash
There were conflicting reports about the reason of the clash. Some media reports claim it happened over processions to mark Maharana Pratap Jayanti on Tuesday. The violence started when Dalits refused to allow the processions since they were prevented from carrying out a similar procession on Ambedkar Jayanti, reported NDTV.
In the second incident of violence in Saharanpur within a fortnight, one person was killed and at least 15 others, including a police officer, were injured as members of the Thakur and Dalit communities clashed over loud music being played during a procession.
Around 25 youths of the ‘upper caste’ Thakur community from the area were on their way to Simlana village of Saharanpur to take part in a function to garland the statue of Rajput warrior-king Maharana Pratap, when the Dalit locals objected to the loud music being played by them.
(With inputs from PTI, Hindustan Times and NDTV.)
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