New Delhi
Uttarakhand Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons in connection with posters that appeared in Uttarkashi on Monday warning Muslims against continuing to live in the town.
The incident comes in the wake of the arrest of two persons arrested for alleged attempt to kidnap a minor Hindu girl in the village Purola.
Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told Awaz-the Voice that the Police have registered an FIR against the persons who had put up posters in the town of Uttrakashi asking Muslims to leave the town and also initiated confidence building measures.
Tension erupted in the town following an aborted attempt to kidnap a 14-year-old girl by a Muslim and a Hindu man from the village of Purola. Ashok Kumar told Awaz-the Voice that “senior police officers are monitoring the situation and confidence-building measures have been initiated.”
Posters warning Muslim Traders down their shops surfaced in Uttarkashi town on Monday.
The alleged kidnappers – Ubed Khan (24), a local shopkeeper, and Jitender Saini (23), a motorcycle mechanic – were arrested on May 27, a day after the alleged kidnapping bid.
However, local Hindutva groups alleged it to be a case “love jihad” – a debunked conspiracy theory according to which Muslim men lure Hindu women into romantic relationships in order to convert them to Islam.
Two days after the arrests, Hindutva bodies held a protest march that turned violent after some demonstrators allegedly attacked shops belonging to Muslims. Another protest attended by nearly 900 people was organised on Saturday under the banner of ‘Yamuna Ghati Hindu Jagriti Sangathan’.
Following the protests, the majority of 30-40 Muslims shopkeepers left the town.
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On Monday, the posters surfaced in Uttarkashi’s Purola main market warning the Muslim traders to vacate their shops before a mahapanchayat is held on June 15.