Chanting slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, a mob with more 50 members who were partaking in a procession of Hanuman Jayanthi pelted stones in a Muslim locality in Nizamabad, targeting a Muslim man’s furniture store in particular. The incident happened at around 8.15 pm at Bade bazaar locality on Friday.
According to the police, while the procession was passing through the Muslim locality, the mob halted and attacked a furniture store by the name Al-Rasheed, which was owned by a Muslim man.
Though police were escorting the crowd, they didn't have the necessary force to immediately stop the attack. It took at least 25 minutes for the police to control the crowd.
With the attack taking place despite the presence of police, it gave rise to the suspicion that the police remained mute spectators.
Denying these charges, II Town SI Nagaraju told TNM, “The police personnel were there throughout the 5 km stretch where the procession was to pass through, but in this particular locality, sufficient force wasn't there.”
Nagaraju said that the glass panes of the furniture store and the vehicles parked nearby were damaged.
Police said that a team has been formed to catch the culprits.
“Through the videos people have shared of the incident, we have identified a few attackers We are on the job to arrest them,” Nagaraju said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nizamabad North, Srinivas Kumar said that it was an 'unprovoked' attack.
“It was a one-sided attack. There was no two-way violence. They pelted stones at the furniture store. The probe is underway.”
Police have registered a case of rioting and unlawful assembly under IPC Sections 147, 148 and 149 against unknown persons.
Condemning the attack, Amjed Ullah Khan of the Hyderabad-based party Majlis Bachao Tehreek, sought the arrest of the attackers within 24 hours and demanded that the government should provide compensation.