Raipur
A day after several policemen, including the SP and ASP, were injured in their bid to prevent two tribal groups from clashing with each other, as many as 60 people were arrested on Saturday in connection with the clash between the Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP) workers and the police during a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district on Friday.
Police officials said, 21 policemen, including Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh and Additional Superintendent of Police Manisha Thakur, were injured in the clash that took place in Harmo village under Bhoramdeo police station limits. As many as 17 protestors also sustained injuries, they said.
“A total of 200 people were taken into custody in connection with the violence. Of them, 160 were released after being served notices. The remaining 60 persons, including the GGP’s district unit chief J Lingo, were arrested,” SP Lal Umed Singh told media persons.
The accused were produced in a local court, which sent them to jail on judicial remand, he said adding a large number of security personnel have been deployed in the village and the situation is under control.
The police said the clash erupted over hoisting of a flag at a religious place, Gauri-Chaura, where local Gond tribals had been offering prayers to their deity ‘Budha Dev’ for the last several years. But last year, Lingo, also a tribal, had hoisted the flag of his deity ‘Bada Dev’, which was not liked by the local tribal group that follows ‘Budha Dev’.
On February 14, the head of the tribal community, Durge Bhagat, from Korba district, performed rituals at the same place during a function held by followers of Budha Dev, after which their flag was hoisted.
In a retaliatory move, the Gondwana Ganatantra Party chief on Friday held a public meeting in Rajanawagaon in Bhoramdeo, where around 500 GGP workers were present. They then took out a rally towards Harmo, just 5 km away, and clashed with the police, who had put up barricades on the route, and pelted stones on them, the police said.
As many as 21 policemen including the senior officials were injured. The police had to burst teargas shells and resort to lathi charge to disperse the mob.
Incidentally, Sadanand Kumar, Narayanpur SP and several other policemen were injured in January this year when a group of tribals barged into the Sacred Heart Church at Banglapara, and vandalised it before attacking police officers who reached the spot. However, much before the attack tension had been brewing between two tribal groups in the district – the minority tribal community following the Christian faith and the non-Christian tribals over the issue of conversion.
