Khargone SP Siddharth Chaudhary spoke to India TV exclusively from his hospital bed and narrated how the sequence of events unfolded during the violence on the occassion of Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.
"The procession started on the prescribed route when stone pelting suddenly started from the rear on people taking part in the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra at around 5-5.15 pm. We used tear gas to disperse the crowd." "The procession started again after some time." However, soon after, violence and stone pelting reports came in from other parts of the city," the SP said.
Ram Navami procession started from the Talab Chowk area with a DJ music system playing religious songs loudly. When the procession crossed a mosque located nearby, suddenly stones were pelted on the procession which resulted in the flare-up.
Talking to India TV, Choudhary said, “After I got information about the arson and reached the Sanjay Nagar area, a youth holding a sword ran towards me. But, when I chased him and tried to snatch the sword from him, I suffered a thumb injury." "When I chased him again, an associate of the youth shot at me, injuring my left leg.
The bullet passed through the calf on the other side. I did not require a surgery, and am recuperating at home,” SP Choudhary added.
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Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra also spoke to SP Choudhary and enquired about his health.
Curfew was clamped in the entire Khargone city on Sunday after stone-pelting during the Ram Navami procession triggered arson and torching of vehicles. Nearly 100 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence.
After the violence in Khargone during the Ram Navami festival on Sunday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said that the tribunal will be set up to assess the losses and for the recovery of damages from the rioters.
While the curfew is in force in Khargone since Sunday evening, some anti-social elements set ablaze three buses, a car and a garage in the city's Mechanic Nagar area on Monday night. As an uneasy calm prevailed in the trouble-torn city, a delegation of Muslim clerics on Tuesday met the state DGP in Bhopal and alleged Muslims were selectively targeted by the administration after communal clashes in Khargone and Sendhwa towns on Ram Navami even though members of processions had put up saffron flags on walls of mosques and raised inflammatory slogans.
Meanwhile, a case was registered on Tuesday in Bhopal against senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for allegedly promoting religious enmity after he tweeted a picture of a mosque in another state while commenting on communal violence at Khargone.
Also Read | FIR against Digvijaya for 'fake' post on Khargone violence, BJP wants his Twitter handle suspended
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