Nagpur: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Saturday that the government will recover the cost of property damage caused during the recent Nagpur violence from the rioters.
If the perpetrators of violence fail to compensate, their properties will be seized and sold to recover the losses, he said.
Addressing the media, he emphasised that strict action would be taken against those who attacked police officers during the unrest.
Fadnavis stressed that the incident cannot be termed “intelligence failure”, but the intelligence (gathering) could have been better.
He said 104 individuals have been identified so far, following an analysis of CCTV footage and video recordings. Action has been initiated against 92 people, including 12 minors, as per the law.
The violence erupted March 17, after rumours spread that a ‘chadar’ with religious inscriptions had been burnt during protests led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
The clashes resulted in widespread stone-pelting and arson across several parts of the city, leaving 33 police personnel, including three Deputy Commissioner of Police-rank officers, injured.
Fadnavis said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Nagpur March 30 would proceed as planned, unaffected by the violence.
“The cost of properties damaged during Nagpur violence will be recovered from rioters and the failure to pay up would lead to the seizure and selling of their properties to recover losses.
“My government will not rest until those responsible for attacking the police are found and dealt with sternly,” said Fadnavis, who also heads the Home Ministry.
He said the situation in Nagpur is calm now, and efforts are underway to relax the curfew imposed in certain areas. “Riots broke out only in parts of the city, while 80 per cent of Nagpur wasn’t impacted,” he added.
Fadnavis stated that the distribution of compensation for victims would begin soon and that 68 social media posts that aggravated the situation had been identified and deleted.
He said those who circulated inflammatory content would be charged as co-accused for their role in inciting violence.
Fadnavis further said it was too early to comment on a foreign or Bangladeshi link to the riots as the probe is underway.
“Those who circulated inflammatory posts on social media that aggravated the situation will be made co-accused in the riots case because they facilitated in instigating people. 68 such social media posts have been identified and deleted,” he added.
Fadnavis said female police constables were not molested though stones were thrown at them by rioters.
Responding to speculation that the riot in his hometown was orchestrated to target him politically, Fadnavis said, “It is foolish to say such things. There is no political angle to the violence “.
During his first visit to Nagpur after the violence on Friday, the chief minister assessed the situation and chaired a meeting with senior police and administrative officers at the police commissionarate.
Fadnavis said he discussed how the violence unfolded and whether there were any lapses by police. He reviewed the action taken so far and shared his observations with police officers.
When asked if Congress was politicising the issue by dispatching a committee to visit the violence-hit areas, Fadnavis pointed out that one of the members of the visiting panel is an accused in the Akola violence case.
Nagpur Police had said 105 persons have been held so far in connection with the violence, including key accused and Minority Democratic Party leader Fahim Khan, who was booked for sedition.
PTI
