Jammu: Tension gripped Jammu as an angry mob set buses on fire and pelted stones at the police after an alleged desecration of a religious place here.
Trouble began when a man allegedly entered the premises of a religious place Janipur in the evening and broke some items and windowpanes, a police officer said, adding, he has been arrested.
Following the incident, people in large number came on to the streets and held protests demanding immediate arrest of the accused, he said.
The protesters also resorted to stone-pelting and set three vehicles on fire in the area, police said.
Some motorcycles were also torched and many shops were vandalised in the Janipur area of Jammu city.
As the police fired tear gas shells to control the crowd, the protesters set two vehicles on fire inside the police station premises.
A case has been registered and the accused has been arrested. He is mentally disturbed and had come to the area to see a psychiatrist," the officer said.
Police said he was of unsound mind.
Meanwhile, CCTV footage of the ‘desecration’ went viral on social media, adding fuel to the fire.
"After the news spread in the area, an angry mob held strong protest on Janipur-Roop Nagar road. The mob torched a school vehicle and has now surrounded the local police station amidst high pitch sloganeering” a senior police official said. To control the situation the police also cane charged the protestors to disperse them.
“Senior police officers have reached the spot to bring the situation under control and prevent any flaring up of the trouble by anti-social elements,” the officer added.
He said a large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area and some stone-pelters and arsonists have also been arrested.
"Right now the situation is tense but calm, people became aggressive as some people were under the influence of alcohol," Singh said.
He said police had to resort to light cane charge and lob a few tear-gas shells to control the mob.
"The one who tried to vandalise the religious place has also been arrested," the deputy commissioner said.
He also said, a police officer who earlier "did not take action" against the man who allegedly vandalised the place, has been suspended.
