Jaipur: The houses of two Dalit politicians were set ablaze and a dozen school children were injured as chaos reigned in Hindaun City in Rajasthan's Karauli district on Tuesday as a protest rally taken out by traders, businessmen and non-scheduled caste people against vandalism during Monday's Bharat Bandh turned violent.
Curfew has been imposed in the city and more than 40 people have been arrested, a police officer said.
According to police sources, people came out on to the streets on Tuesday to protest against the violence on Monday and demanded immediate arrest of those involved in looting and vandalism during the Bharat Bandh.
The protest turned violent and the mob comprising nearly 5,000 people torched the house of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav, both Dalits. While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who had also served as a minister in the state.
Police sources also said that cops took out a flag march, but were outnumbered and some miscreants engaged in violence, injuring a few security personnel.
When force did not work, police fired tear gas shells - some of which fell on a government school, leading to chaos in which around a dozen schoolchildren were injured, officials said.
“On Monday, a crowd of around 15-20 thousand protesters who were in favour of the bandh had created ruckus in several areas such as Gangapur City and Hindaun City. Today, traders, businessmen and non-scheduled caste people took out a rally against Monday’s violence,” a senior police official said.
SP Anil Kayal said that curfew will continue in the town till Wednesday morning and internet services have also been suspended. Situation is under control and police are continuously reviewing the situation, he added.
Meanwhile, state police chief OO Galhotra said that except in Hindaun, normalcy returned to Rajasthan on Tuesday. He told the media that a total of 23 companies of police have been deployed in different towns and flag marches are being carried out in the most-affected areas.
A total of 172 cases have been registered against miscreants for damaging public property, engaging in violence, looting and other such crimes. Over 1,000 people have been booked from different parts of the state and the hunt is on to trace others involved in the violence which erupted on Monday.
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