Communal tension in UP’s Bareilly over Instagram comments, 2 minors apprehended

Two 14-year-old Class 9 students in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly were apprehended around Friday midnight after their comments on Instagram allegedly hurt religious sentiments. The students belong to two different religions.

On Thursday, the student belonging to a minority community commented on an Instagram post. A day later, on Friday, his classmate reacted with a comment that allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of the minority community. The situation escalated with hundreds of people from the minority community laying siege to a police station, demanding the immediate arrest of the boy. Later, the mob staged a blockade outside the boy’s house and pelted stones at the building, prompting the police to intervene.

बरेली के थाना शीशगढ़ क़स्बे में एक युवक द्वारा समुदाय विशेष के विरुद्ध सोशल मीडिया पर आपत्तिजनक पोस्ट करने से आक्रोश हो जाने पर आईजी बरेली परिक्षेत्र@rakeshs_ipsद्वारा मौके पर पहुंचकर स्थिति कंट्रोल करते हुए लोगों को समझाया गया व सम्बन्धित को आवश्यक कार्यावही हेतु निर्देशित किया। pic.twitter.com/3376USDPzB

— IG Range Bareilly (@igrangebareilly) August 18, 2023

After the police chased the mob from outside the boy’s house, the protesters staged a sit-in at the Ramlila ground and refused to budge till the arrest was made. Senior police and administrative officials of the district tried to persuade the protesters to end the stir but they refused to relent.

The melee which started at around 8 pm on Friday with the police station being gheraoed ended around midnight when the minor was apprehended. An hour later, the police also apprehended the student from the minority community.

“We have arrested both minors in this connection. Adequate police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed in the area to ensure peace,” Inspector General (IG) of Police Rakesh Singh said.

थाना शीशगढ़, बरेली क्षेत्रान्तर्गत एक किशोर द्वारा सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म पर विवादित पोस्ट शेयर करने, जिसके उपरान्त दूसरे समुदाय के लोगों द्वारा उग्र प्रदर्शन करने एवं प्रकरण में पुलिस द्वारा की गयी विधिक कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में पुलिस अधीक्षक ग्रामीण, बरेली की बाइट। #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/fgoGHd3Bmm

— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) August 19, 2023

“We will also take action against those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere. The trouble mongers are being identified as the entire incident has been videographed by the police and we will also go through the available CCTV footage of the area. The offenders will face strict punitive action,” Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan said.

“We will probe the Friday incident and action will be taken against the policemen if they were found guilty of not being able to control the crowd,” IG Singh said.

Source : Indian Express