Nagpur violence updates: Probe underway, social media ‘monitored’, says commissioner

Nagpur Police on Tuesday said that over 50 people had been taken into custody in connection with the violence that broke out on the night of March 17.

Authorities are also reviewing CCTV footage and social media posts to identify any additional suspects involved in the unrest, which followed rumours that a holy book was burned during a protest by a right-wing group demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb.

City Commissioner of Police Ravinder Kumar Singal confirmed that the situation in the area had returned to normal. “The situation is peaceful now, we have imposed a curfew under the area of around 11 police stations. The situation is under control,” he told ANI.

He further stated, “We have taken more than 50 people into custody. Other than that, if people are being seen in CCTV’s and in social media posts of doing such acts of violence of damaging property and disturbing peace, then we are identifying them and catching them.”

The Commissioner also rejected allegations that the police had not responded adequately, stressing that officers were present from the beginning of the violence, which resulted in injuries to 33 policemen.

Meanwhile, a curfew has been enforced in several parts of Nagpur under Section 163 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in view of the rising tensions. The curfew applies to the jurisdiction of police stations in Kotwali, Ganeshpeth, Tehsil, Lakadganj, Pachpaoli, Shantinagar, Sakkardara, Nandanvan, Imamwada, Yashodharanagar, and Kapilnagar.

Clashes erupted in the Chitnis Park area of Mahal around 7:30 pm on Monday, with stones hurled at police, leaving six civilians and three officers injured, according to PTI.

The unrest later spread to Kotwali and Ganeshpeth, intensifying in the evening. Nearly 1,000 people were involved in large-scale stone-pelting, vandalism, and arson, damaging multiple vehicles and homes.

According to the Nagpur Police Commissioner quoted by news agency ANI, the violence peaked between 8-8.30 pm, prompting security forces to intervene.

Violence spread to Nagpur’s Hansapuri area, where unidentified individuals vandalised shops, torched vehicles, and pelted stones following an earlier clash in Mahal that had escalated tensions. A fresh clash erupted near Old Bhandara Road between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm, during which a mob set several vehicles on fire and damaged houses and a clinic.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had urged peace and calm at the time of the chaos, on Tuesday said that the violence “looks like a well-planned attack”.

“In Nagpur, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal held protests. Rumours were spread that things containing religious content were burnt…It looks like a well-planned attack. No one has permission to take law and order into their hands,” Fadnavis said in the state assembly.

Latest developments

• Nagpur Police on Tuesday said that over 50 people had been taken into custody in connection with the violence that broke out on the night of March 17. The city’s Commissioner of Police, Ravinder Kumar Singal, confirmed that the situation in the area is now peaceful.

• Nagpur police commissioner Ravinder Singal said that Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita has been imposed, allowing magistrates to issue immediate preventive orders in urgent situations to prevent obstruction, threats to human life, public unrest, or riots. These orders can be directed at individuals, specific areas, or the general public.

• Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage and video clips to identify those involved, and an FIR is being registered. Police have urged citizens to remain calm and cooperate.

• Ravinder Singal assured residents that the situation is under control and peaceful. Section 144 has been enforced, and people have been advised not to venture out unnecessarily.

• Maharashtra Minority Commission Chairman Pyare Khan described the violence in Nagpur’s Mahal area as “very unfortunate,” urging people to maintain peace. He claimed that the perpetrators were outsiders, not locals, and had come to disrupt the city’s communal harmony.

• Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal criticised the state home department, calling the violence a failure of the administration. He alleged that ministers had been “deliberately making provocative speeches” in the days leading up to the unrest.