More Than 100 Booked After Communal Clash Erupts In Dehradun Railway Station

The police have booked over 100 people after a clash between two groups at Dehradun railway station late on Thursday night. The confrontation was between two groups over an argument that included an alleged interfaith couple from Uttar Pradesh that had caught the attention of the authorities. The 16-year-old girl, who belongs to a minority community, traveled from Badaun to meet the man who is now living in Dehradun.

According to SSP Ajai Singh, the situation went out of hand when the RPF heard the argument between the couple, misunderstood the situation, and took them by force to their station. Here, it was presumed that the girl's family had also filed a missing person complaint in Badaun on the same day because the girl didn't arrive at Badaun. As soon as she arrived in Dehradun, the police called her family, after which they left Badaun immediately for Dehradun, and the intensity increased.

Escalation And Violence After Incident
Just a few hours after the incident, it was reported that rumors of a communal clash had gripped the city, and two groups began to amass at the railway station. One group was led by Vikas Verma while the other by Asif Qureshi president of the Dehradun city unit of the Azad Samaj Party. The situation soon grew into heated arguments followed by stone-pelting between the two factions. In the violence, the passengers and bystanders ran helter-skelter to save themselves. Vehicles moving on the spot were damaged, including eight two-wheelers and a police vehicle.

Police Reaction
Police were compelled to use force to disperse the public gathering and additional policemen brought the situation under control. SSP Singh said that a total of 14 identified persons are booked with a case along with approximately 100 unidentified persons with both groups, and they each counted to about 50 in number, under several sections including rioting and damaging properties.

Identification Of The Accused
Other identified suspects are Rohit Maurya, Siddhant Badoni, Aman Swedia, etc. The department is presently scanning CCTV footage of the area for more suspects to be apprehended over this incident.
This incident is an instance of conflict along the lines of communal affairs and a reminder of how fragile communal relations might be in some parts of the country, thereby paving the way for increasing interfaith tensions within society.