3 held, FIR against 150 after crowd pelts stones at cops in Ratlam over Ganesh procession row

INDORE: Ratlam police have filed an FIR against 150 people and arrested three of them after a crowd pelted stones at cops and damaged vehicles on Saturday night after stubbornly trailing the cops to a spot where a stone had allegedly been thrown at a Ganesh procession earlier that evening.

Police resorted to a mild lathicharge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Police forces from adjoining districts had to be called in. There is heavy police deployment in Ratlam, 140km from Indore.

The ruckus started on Saturday evening when a transgender named Kajal alleged that someone had thrown a stone that hit a man in the Ganesh procession when it was passing through Mochipura area.

SP Rahu Lodha said that there was nothing to corroborate this allegation. "All CCTV footage from the area has been reviewed, and no evidence of stone pelting was found. The idol was also not damaged," the SP said, assuring that if any evidence emerges during the investigation, appropriate action will be taken against the culprits.

Police filed an FIR against unidentified persons on Saturday night but a crowd of 500 gathered at Station Road police station and refused to relent. SP Lodha led a team to the spot but a large crowd followed closely behind. The SP asked them to disperse, and that is when stone pelting began.

As the situation deteriorated, police had to use force. The unrest started around 8:30 pm and stretched till midnight. Police teams from Jaora town in Ratlam and Dhar district were also called in.

On Sunday morning, SP Lodha said the investigation has not confirmed any stone pelting on the Ganesh idol. Police questioned three persons who filed the complaint - including transgender Kajal and Lakhan Rajwaniya. SP Lodha said the trio provided inconsistent accounts of the incident.

Police have registered a case against 13 named individuals and 150 others for rioting and sloganeering during the night.

Those named in the FIR include Kajal, Lakhan, Ravi Sharma, Mahendra Solanki, Jalaj Sankhla, Ravi Sen, Vijay Prajapati, Nitesh, Mukesh Banjara, Manthan Bhonsle, Aman Jain, Jaydeep Gurjar, and Aju Bargunda. They have been accused of inciting the crowd, creating a ruckus, and vandalising vehicles.

Sankhla is the district vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). Lakhan, Kajal and Solanki were arrested late Saturday night, and two others, Mukesh Banjara and Ajju Bargunda, were detained on Sunday.