Khargone riots: Reward for information on absconding accused; curfew relaxed for 6 hours

Police have announced a reward of Rs 10,000 each for information leading to the arrest of more than 100 miscreants wanted in connection with riots during Ram Navami celebrations in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone city, where the curfew was relaxed for six hours on Wednesday in view of improvement in the situation.

Following registration of FIRs in different police stations in Khargone, a reward of Rs 10,000 each was announced for giving credible information on 104 absconding accused wanted in connection with the April 10 communal violence in the city, in-charge Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohit Kashwani said.

Police have released a list of these accused, two of whom still remain unidentified, he said.

The curfew in Khargone, imposed after the riots, was relaxed for six hours in one go on Wednesday morning for the first time in the last 11 days, officials said. The local administration has been relaxing the curfew every day either in the morning or in two shifts since April 14, but this was for the time when the relaxation was granted from 10 am to 4 pm at a stretch.

During the relaxation hours, stores selling milk, vegetables, medicines and groceries besides barber shops were allowed to remain open, but local residents were prohibited from using their vehicles and asked by the administration to make essential purchases from neighbourhood stores. Post offices and banks were also open.

In the past couple of days, the curfew was relaxed in two shifts - from 8 am to 12 noon and from 3 pm to 5 pm - as the situation improved in the city. The curfew was clamped after communal clashes erupted in Khargone on Ram Navami during which shops and houses were damaged, vehicles torched and stones hurled.

As many as 65 First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered in connection with the communal violence, a police officer had said earlier.

Meanwhile, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said police have identified the man who had allegedly fired a bullet at Khargone SP Siddharth Choudhary during the riots and he will be nabbed soon. Choudhary, who was injured in the firing, was taken to a hospital and his condition was stated to be stable.

As Choudhary was recuperating at home post discharge from hospital, Kashwani was appointed the acting SP.

Mishra said those who indulged in stone-pelting during the communal violence are being identified through video footage. “The man who had fired a bullet at the Khargone SP (Siddharth Choudhary) has been identified as Wasim alias Mohsin and he would be arrested soon,” Mishra told reporters in Bhopal.

He said 154 people have been arrested so far. The home minister said action will be taken against Mohsin and another riot accused, identifed only as Nawaz, under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). More than 10 criminal cases were registered against Mohsin and eight against Nawaz, the home minister said.

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