1 dead in Aurangabad violence, 7 held for attack on police station

As many as seven persons have been arrested following a mob attack on a police station in central Maharashtra's Aurangabad city while an injured man died in hospital, the police said on Friday.

Normalcy returned to the city, recently renamed as 'Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar', even as the government deployed five companies of the State Reserve Police Force as a precaution.

At least 12 persons including 10 policemen were injured after a mob of around 500 people hurled stones and petrol-filled bottles when the cops tried to control the situation following a clash between two groups near the Ram temple in Kiradpura locality of Aurangabad, on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

The police used tear gas and fired some plastic bullets as well as live rounds to control the mob.

Barkat Shaikh (23), Shaikh Atik (24), Saddam Shah (33), Shaikh Khaja (25), Sharik Khan (23), Syed Noor (27), all local residents, and Shaikh Saleem (25) from Buldhana district were arrested for alleged rioting, said an official of Jinsi police station where a case has been registered.

Shaikh Muniruddin (51), who had suffered injuries during the violence, died at a hospital on Thursday night, officials said, without specifying how he came to be injured.

"Security at various sensitive locations in the city has been increased. The administration has deployed five companies of SRPF and nearly 600 police personnel are on guard to maintain peace," an official said.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar said political parties, civil society and citizens must work towards ensuring peace in Aurangabad.

The Nationalist Congress Party leader said police are doing their work but everyone, including political parties, those in power or Opposition, civil society and common citizens should work towards ensuring peace.

Asked about the Maha Vikas Aghadi's joint rally in Aurangabad on April 2, he said it had been planned much earlier, and leaders of the MVA constituents – NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) -- are working on it.

Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut alleged that violence in Aurangabad and elsewhere on Ram Navami was "government-sponsored", and the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government wanted to use the tensions as a pretext to disallow the Maha Vikas Aghadi rally on April 2.

Fellow Shiv Sena-UBT leader and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve contested Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel's claim that some drug addicts were responsible for the violence.

"Drug addicts can not carry out such violence.....How can 400-500 people be drug addicts? I had got information and I had spoken about it with the commissioner multiple times. It was ignored by administration," he claimed.

Danve also claimed that the agitation against the renaming of Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and the counter-agitation supporting the renaming led to this situation.

Had the agitation against the renaming not taken place, this situation would have been averted, he added.