Madhya Pradesh: Seven injured in group clash in Indore; Muslim family alleges mob attack

Indore: At least seven people, including five members of a family, were injured in a clash between two groups at a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district, police said on Sunday. While members of a Muslim family alleged that they were attacked by a mob on Saturday night after they did not adhere to some people’s ‘‘diktat’’ of leaving the Hindu-dominated Piwday village by October 9, local police denied the claim. Superintendent of Police Maheshchandra Jain told PTI that seven people received minor injuries in the dispute that took place on Saturday night in the village, located about 20 km from the district headquarters. Those injured included five members of a Muslim family and two Hindus, he said. Jain denied the allegation that the Muslim family was attacked by a mob for not following an order to vacate the Hindu-dominated village. Amid the incident gaining a communal colour on social media, the police official termed it as a normal dispute between two groups. “Based on counter complaints filed by the two sides, cases was registered against people from both the sides under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 294 (obscene acts or words in public), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 147 (rioting),” he said. The official said the family, whose five members were injured, makes iron articles in the village and a dispute between the two parties over the repair of such items resulted in violence on Saturday night. Fazaluddin, a close relative of the family, however, alleged that his grandson, who lives in the village, told that they were threatened by a group of people about two to three months back and asked to leave the village by October 9. “When they didn’’t leave, his family was attacked by 30-40 villagers on Saturday night,” he alleged. Five members of the family, including two women, were injured in the attack in which tools from their own factory were used, he claimed. Lawyer Ehtsham Hashmi, who has volunteered to help the family, claimed that the family members was attacked due to religious discrimination, and said they were taking appropriate legal steps in connection with the matter.