Mangaluru, Feb 26: A tense atmosphere has prevailed in parts of Mangaluru taluk after a communal clash and arson attack on shops belonging to Muslims in the wee hours of Thursday.
Property worth lakhs of rupees have been destroyed as 22 small shops located near Thokkottu junction have been gutted in fire.
Irfan’s plastic materials shop, Aida Bayi’s vegetable store and flower store, Ibrahim’s vegetable store, Bhagavan Das’ grocery shop, Rafeeq’s footwear shop, Monu Kaka’s dry fish store, Mustafa’s toy shop, Ibrahim Bhai’s flower shop, Latheef’s grocery shop, Mansoor’s grocery shop, Azeez’s cloth store and Bava’s vegetable store have been completely charred.
The arsonist targeted shops, most of them belonging to Muslims, at around 2 a.m. hours after a group clash between miscreants belonging to two communities, which left several persons injured including policemen at K C Road, near Thokkottu.
The clash erupted on Wednesday late night when a group of people put up buntings and saffron flags at KC Road junction as part of Brahma Kalashotsava at Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple. A group of local youth belonging to another community reportedly switched off the street lights after a verbal fight with them.
This led to a clash between two groups and stones were pelted from both the sides. The stone battle disrupted vehicular movement on the national highway 66 and also damaged a Duster car, sources said.
The police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control through mild baton charge. In the melee, several persons were injured including policemen. Three cops from Ullal station - Chandra Naik, Kamalakhshya and ASI Mohandas - sustained injuries when miscreants from both sides pelted stones. They have been hospitalized.
Additional police personnel have been deployed in KC Road, Thokkottu, Ullal and surrounding areas. KSRP personnel are also patrolling the area. DCP Vishnuvardhan, ACP Kalyan Shetty, Sub-Inspector Pavithra Teja and PSI Bharati among others camped in the area to monitor the situation.
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