Chhattisgarh: Cops injured by mob during tussle over tribal place of worship in Kabirdham

The district administration and police convened meetings in a bid to defuse tension, which were not attended by Lingo, he added.On Friday, Lingo held a public meeting in Rajanawagaon in Bhoramdeo where around 500 GGP workers were present, who then took out a rally towards Harmo five kilometres away and clashed with police while trying to remove barricades placed on the route, the SP said.During the clash, protesters threw stones at police.

Several policemen were injured on Friday after a mob attacked them with stones and sticks during a rally by the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) in Chhattisgarh's Kabirdham district over hoisting of a flag at a religious place, officials said.

Police had to burst teargas shells and resort to lathi charge to disperse the mob when they tried to charge towards the religious place in Harmo village under Bhoramdeo police station limits, they said.

The issue pertains to a Gauri-Chaura site in the village where local tribals had been offering prayers to their deity 'Budha Dev' for the last several years, Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh told PTI.

''Last year, the district unit chief of GGP J Lingo, also a tribal, had hoisted 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 tribal community, Durge Bhagat from Korba district, performed rituals at the same place during a social function held by followers of Budha Dev after which their flag was hoisted,'' he said.

''Subsequently, activists of Gondwana Student Union submitted a memorandum to Kabirdham Collector seeking action against Bhagat and also burnt his effigies. The district administration and police convened meetings in a bid to defuse tension, which were not attended by Lingo,'' he added.

On Friday, Lingo held a public meeting in Rajanawagaon in Bhoramdeo where around 500 GGP workers were present, who then took out a rally towards Harmo five kilometres away and clashed with police while trying to remove barricades placed on the route, the SP said.

''During the clash, protesters threw stones at police. I, Additional Superintendent of Police Manisha Thakur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kaushal Kishore Wasnik, Inspector Bhushan Ekka and others, were injured,'' Singh said.

''A few protestors also suffered injuries. They were chased away from the village and the situation was brought under control. Efforts are on to arrest those involved in the riot,'' he said.

During the protest, around 100 villagers, including women and children, who follow Budha Dev were at the place of worship and the situation could have turned dangerous if the protesters were not stopped, he added.

Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) Anand Chhabra has reached the spot and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in the area, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)