Ready for 'Bandh' called on Monday in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara: Police

Apr 09, 2023

Bemetara (Chhattisgarh) [India], April 10 : Amid the death of a 22-year-old man in a clash in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district on Saturday, 'Bandh' has been called on Monday and the police administration is ready for this, said Indira Kalyan Elesela, Superintendent of Police (SP) Bemetara.
The deceased has been identified as Bhuneswar Sahu.
Informing about the Bandh in the state, SP Bemetara said, "Bandh has been called tomorrow in view of yesterday's incident. We are ready for this. We hope everything remains peaceful."
"We are fully prepared. The crowd has been controlled by installing barricades at many places," he added.
Earlier on Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) extended support to the statewide bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) over the incident in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district.
State BJP Spokesperson Kedar Gupta said, "Bharatiya Janata Party will join the Chhattisgarh bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad over the incident in Bemetara that resulted in the death of a youth and the bandh will be held on Monday."
"A youth named Bhuneshwar Sahu was murdered by some fanatic Muslims yesterday in an incident that happened in Saja Vidhansabha. There were continuously eight cases of Love Jihad in that area and Sahu Samaj was creating public awareness that Love Jihad is a crime", Gupta said.
He also alleged conspiracy behind the youth's murder and the government is supporting the accused.
Amid heavy police deployment and imposition of section 144, the last rites of Bhuneswar Sahu, was performed in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday.
Police have placed elaborate security arrangements to avert any untoward incident and keep the deployment at the village for a few more days as a preventive measure. To maintain the law and order, police personnel are conducting patrolling in and around the village to avert any untoward incident.
"In the backdrop of yesterday's incident, police from the entire range have been roped in here for the law and order duty and barricading is in place to control the mob," said Bemetara SP.
"The last rites of the youth, who was killed in the clash, were performed peacefully," said the SP, elaborating that the deployment of police will remain at the village in the coming days till the situation normalizes.
"Police have arrested a few people and soon those whose names surfaced during the ongoing probe will also be arrested," he said.
Tension gripped Chhattisgarh's Bemetara on Saturday after a child was thrashed by a few people prompting a clash between two groups reportedly belonging from separate faiths, leading to the death of a person and a few others injured.
Three police personnel were also injured in the incident, informed the police."Police have arrested 11 persons.
Further probe in the case is underway", the police said.