Rewa: A former BJP corporator and his son were injured in a clash between members of two communities after an argument over a tract of land in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, following which heavy police force was deployed in the area, an official said on Thursday.
Lavkush Gupta (50) and his son Neelesh (30) suffered injuries in the violence which took place on Wednesday evening near a temple and a mosque in Malakpur area, and were admitted to a government hospital, Additional Superintendent of Police Shiv Kumar Verma told PTI.
Heavy security has been deployed in the Malakpur area under Mangawan tehsil, located about 30 km from the district headquarters, he said.
An FIR has been registered against 11 people and efforts are on to arrest them, the official said.
Trouble started when Gupta along with his son and their friends got some construction material unloaded on the land near the places of worship, close to the Malakpur pond, to build a structure, he said. Some members from another group objected to it, claiming the site belonged to their place of worship. Gupta told them that the tract of land, where the construction material was kept, was his aper government records, the police official said.
This led to an altercation and members from the other group allegedly hit Gupta and his son with sticks and stones, the official said.
In the meantime, a video of the incident went viral on social media, following which some people reached the spot to support Gupta. This again led to a clash between the two sides, he said.
After being alerted, police rushed to the spot, brought the situation under control and appealed to both the sides to maintain calm, the official said. Gupta and his son were rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, he said. As a precautionary measure, heavy security has been deployed in the area. The situation is under control, the official said, adding that the police have appealed to the two sides to maintain peace. A case has been registered against 11 people under Indian Penal Code Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 292 (use of offending language), 506 (criminal intimidation), 147 (rioting), 148 (deadly weapon or with anything which, used as a weapon of offence, that is likely to cause death) and 427 (mischief). Efforts are on to nab the accused, the police said.—PTI
