Mumbai, Nov 16 (PTI) The violence that took place during protest marches in Amravati and Malegaon cities of Maharashtra last week had been planned and the state government did not use the additional police force which was available, the BJP alleged on Tuesday.

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Speaking at a gathering of party functionaries and MLAs here, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the objective of the violence was to polarize society.

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“The violence seen in cities like Amravati and Malegaon was part of a planned strategy to push society towards communal polarization. It was an experiment to test people's response. We have to be careful about this in the coming days,” he said.

“There were seven companies of the State Reserve Police Force in Amravati on the day violence erupted. But they were not even used. Why didn't the state government issue orders to these companies,” asked the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.

He also said that reports of violent incidents in Tripura -- against which the protest marches were taken out in the state -- were distorted and rumours had been spread.

"The Tripura police has exposed the conspiracy to spread rumours. But Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on November 8 tweeted about it, and this experiment was started here. This is state-sponsored violence,” he alleged.

He compared the incidents in Amravati and Malegaon to the protest rally organized by Muslim organizations at Azad Maidan in Mumbai in 2012 which turned violent.

"The way Azad Maidan violence was planned and orchestrated, the same pattern can be seen in Amravati and Malegaon,” Fadnavis claimed.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “Local police confirmed that they had given permission for a rally of 200-300 people. But more than 20,000 people were on the streets and it created a law and order situation. Was it an intelligence failure?”

Some shop owners had been asked not to remain open that day, which means the rally had been planned, he alleged.

The next day when Hindu outfits organized a counter-protest, the government blamed the BJP and arrested its local leaders in Amravati, Patil said.

On Friday, stone-pelting was witnessed in Amravati, Malegaon and some other cities in Maharashtra during rallies taken out by Muslim organisations protesting against alleged communal violence in Tripura.

On Saturday, a mob hurled stones at shops in Amravati's Rajkamal Chowk area during a bandh (shut-down) called by the BJP, prompting the police to impose curfew.

(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)