India News | U'khand: Civil, Police Officials Visit Purola, Appeal for Peace

Uttarkashi, Jun 12 (PTI) Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Rohilla and Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi on Monday visited Purola here to assess the situation in the hill town which has been in the grip of tension after a failed attempt to kidnap a minor Hindu girl by two men including a Muslim.

Shops run by Muslims in Purola remained shut for the 17th consecutive day on Monday even as the top officials held a meeting with different sections of the society and appealed to them to maintain peace and harmony.

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They also met the SDM, Circle Officer and Purola SHO to review the situation.

Vyapar Mandal president Brijmohan Chauhan said during the meeting apart from "criminal-minded" Muslim businessmen, no one was asked to leave Purola.

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Those who closed their shops and left the town did so of their own free will, he said.

The anger of the people is also due to the fact that the businessmen of a particular community do not cooperate in identifying the criminals, Chauhan alleged.

Muslim traders told the officials that they have been doing business in the town for the last 45 years and had no complaints against anyone, but the threatening posters that were pasted on shops recently and a proposed 'Mahapanchayat' has created fear in their minds.

Nagar Panchayat president Harimohan Negi, social workers Rajpal Panwar and Ankit Panwar and BJP Mandal president Jagmohan Panwar said action should be taken against criminals before the atmosphere deteriorates in the town.

Identify and take strict action so that there is no chance of spoiling the atmosphere in the town, they said.

Public representatives like Baldev Rawat and Rajpal Panwar expressed displeasure with the local administration and the police for allegedly not strictly verifying the credentials of people coming from outside.

The SP ordered deploying a sub-inspector for the verification of the people and businessmen coming from Saharanpur and Bijnor districts of Uttar Pradesh.

He also assured of strict action against those who had pasted threatening posters on shops run by Muslim traders.

District Magistrate Rohilla appealed to both the communities to maintain peace and not to be misled by anyone.

He also appealed to Vyapar Mandal representatives to let Muslim businessmen reopen their shops and promised to provide full protection to the latter in doing so.

Those who spoil the atmosphere through posters are being identified and those who provoke will not be spared, he said.

On the proposed Mahapanchayat on June 15, Rohilla said no organisation has as yet approached him to seek permission to organise the event.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)