“Now the area is peaceful. We are keeping a close watch on the situation,” says police official.

Tension prevailed at the Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Marg in Ranchi on Friday after three youths of a minority community were thrashed and allegedly forced them to chant “Jai Shri Ram” by a group of people.The youths were treated in a hospital and later discharged.

Enraged community members blocked the MG Marg near Church Complex, demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits. Police rushed to the spot to control the situation. The community leaders continued to demonstrate till late in the evening.

“We have deployed police along the MG Marg to prevent further escalation. Now the area is peaceful. We are keeping a close watch on the situation,” Senior Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta said over the phone on Saturday.

Aamir Wasim, who lodged a complaint at the Doranda police station, said he and his friends, Altaf Ali and Ali Ahmed, had gone to the airport area to take photographs.

“We were riding our two-wheelers and were in kurta pajama when some people besieged us. Without any provocation, they beat us up and told us to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. As the crowd got bigger, we fled from the spot,” said Mr. Wasim, adding that security personnel near the Birsa Munda Airport rescued them.

Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old youth, was beaten to death by a mob in Saraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand last month. According to the State Congress, as many as 18 cases of mob lynchings had taken place in the State since 2016.

On Friday, Muslims took out an ‘Akrosh’ rally to protest against attacks on their community members in Ranchi.