Rumour triggers tension in Maharashtra towns

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, MARCH 9. Sporadic incidents of arson have been reported from several Maharashtrian towns following rumours that pages of a religious book were burnt in New Delhi.

Police said the situation was tense in parts of Nanded, Aurangabad and Pune, where miscreants indulged in stone- throwing and torching of vehicles.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal, who holds the Home portfolio, said the incidents occurred after some Hyderabad- based publications had carried an unfounded report that the pages of the book were burnt.

Mr. Bhujbal said law and order was under control in the affected towns. Asked who could be behind the rumour- mongering, Mr. Bhujbal said it was well-known that the Pakistani ISI was bent on fomenting trouble in the country. He appealed to the media not to play up such rumours.

The Maharashtra unit of the Jamat-e-Islami has protested the alleged burning in Delhi and demanded action against the culprits.

PTI reports:

Four persons, including three police personnel, were assaulted and injured by a 30-year-old man when they tried to stop him from fleeing with a copy of a religious book in the Jama Masjid area of central Delhi.

Sayed Saifuddin, a resident of Andhra Pradesh's Karimnagar district, created a stir in the area shortly after Friday prayers, when he allegedly tried to run away with a copy of the book, police said. On hearing the alarm raised by people, the head constable Mr. Azad Mohammad, confronted Saifuddin but he was attacked with a razor.

Another head constable, Mr. Puran Singh, received a razor injury in the nose and chin. The accused also threw chilly powder in the eyes of a sub-inspector, Mr. Abdul Kalim.

A passer-by Rayees Hassan, who tried to help the police, met the same fate and sustained an injury in the left brow. Later, a large number of people nabbed Saifuddin and handed him over to police, who have booked him on the charge of attempt to murder and causing hurt.

In Hyderabad, a senior photographer of a local Telugu daily was injured and some public and private vehicles were damaged as miscreants hurled stones.

Trouble started shortly after Friday prayers in the Mecca Masjid near Charminar with the miscreants throwing stones randomly at APSRTC buses and private vehicles, said the Police Commissioner, Mr. P. Ramulu.

They were apparently irked at rumours of the burning of pages of the religious book.

However, the situation was brought under control after the police dispersed the agitators. Three persons were taken into custody for stone-throwing.

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