MANGALORE (Web Desk) – A mob of Hindus, led by the Bajrang Dal, went on a rampage in the village of Nelliyadi, 70 km from Mangalore in Karnataka after a Muslim barber refused to close his shop on Tuesdays.
“It is well-known that Hindus don’t cut their hair on Tuesdays. Salman was initially a nice boy. He used to respect our wishes and close his shop then. But in the last few weeks, he stopped doing that,” local Bajrang Dal leader Ravi Balliya was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
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Uday Kumar, the leader of the barbers’ association, went to Salman’s shop and asked him to shut shop, but Salman refuses to close the shop. What happened next was a spontaneous reaction from locals.
According to the police, around 4 pm on Wednesday the Hindu mob first attacked Salman’s shop and other Muslim stores in Nelliyadi Jumma Masjid complex, destroying hundreds of thousands of rupees in property. Following this, a Muslim mob – led by the Popular Front of India, retaliated with attacks of their own and stone throwing.
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Eventually after hours the police got the situation under control through baton charges. The police have so far arrested nine men from both communities, and imposed curfew in the area.
The riot was controlled by the Manglore Police which also detained a number of PFI and Bajrand Dal volunteers who had arrived on the scene. However, the area remained tense.
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Manglore is drastically turning into a communally sensitive region with more than 153 incidents of religion-based conflict recorded since January this year.
