Communal tension prevailed in Girodih’s Narayan Singhdih village in Jharkhand after some miscreants reportedly uprooted and tore off Lord Hanuman’s flag placed at Chhath Ghat. The angry villagers filed a complaint with the police following which three boys were arrested. The police have booked three individuals, Salamat Raza, Izamul Haq and Wasid Ansari, on the charges of hurting the religious sentiments of people.

Apart from these, Shoaib Ansari, Tanveer Ansari, Shamimullah, Sarafat Ansari and Budhan Ansari are listed by police as accused in the case. Ravindra Kumar Verma, representing agitated villagers, filed an FIR against 11 miscreants of Kasiotol for allegedly ripping apart a religious flag and affronting the religious sentiments of the followers.

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According to the reports, following the completion of Chhath festival on Sunday(November 3, 2019), the accused pulled out and ripped up the flag on the ghat, flaring up tensions between the two communities. There was an attempt made by the police to settle the matter between the two sides but the tensions did not subside. All the efforts of the police to placate the soaring tensions in this case have so far gone in vain.

The police has asserted that reconciliation between the two warring factions could have struck but it could not happen due to some radical fundamentalists, who did not want the antagonism between the two parties to end.

Peace-building between the two sides is still underway. In an effort to avoid any escalation in the matter, Khorimhua SDM Dhirendra Singh, SDPO Naveen Kumar Singh, Jamua BDO Vinod Karmakar, CO Rambalak Prasad, Police Inspector Vinay Ram camped in Kasiotol and Baddiha throughout the day. Police said that anti-social elements will not be spared. Strict action will be taken against whoever is found guilty. In addition, as a precautionary measure, police personnel have been deployed in Kasiotol so that the matter is kept under check.