Interfaith relationship leads to communal tension in Dehradun

Tension erupts after a 16-year-old Muslim girl was found with a Hindu man at the railway station

Dehradun: Members of two communities hurled stones at each other and damaged two-wheelers as communal tension flared up after a 16-year-old Muslim girl was found with a Hindu man at the railway station here, an official said.

Over 100 people were booked on charges of stone-pelting and rioting on Thursday night while a man belonging to a right-wing outfit was detained for questioning in connection with the vandalism outside the station.

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According to the police, the 21-year-old man and the girl hail from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh and were in a relationship. The girl allegedly fled home to meet the man who works in the Selaqui area near here, a police official said.

Upon reaching Dehradun, she called up the man who met her at the railway station in the night. Seen walking around at an odd hour, railway police staff quizzed them, the official said.

The police contacted the girl’s parents and learnt that a missing complaint had been lodged by them at a police station in Badaun, he said.

However, as soon as the news of the duo roaming in the railway station spread in the area, members of the two communities gathered outside the station and a heated exchange of words ensued, Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh said.

The situation escalated soon and the two sides hurled stones at each other and damaged some two-wheelers parked outside the railway station, he said, adding police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

The SSP, who visited the spot soon after the incident, said those who indulged in vandalism outside the railway station have been booked. On Friday afternoon tension gripped the Paltan Bazar and Ghanta Ghar areas of the city after Vikas Verma was picked up by police for interrogation.

Traders shut their shops to protest against Verma’s detention and staged a dharna demanding his immediate release and the removal of the SSP. “Vikas Verma is the voice of Hindutva. We demand his immediate release and the removal of the SSP,” Bajrang Dal state coordinator Anuj Walia said.

Normalcy returned to the Paltan Bazar area and shops were opened on Friday evening after Verma uploaded a video on social media clarifying that he was detained and not arrested.