What started out as a skirmish over a restaurant bill escalated into riots that left five people dead from police gunfire and injured over 200 in Dhule, a city about 350 kilometers northeast of Mumbai.
“It all happened within a span of about 30 minutes,” said Mohan Pawar, the additional superintendent of police for Dhule, who was among those injured in the weekend violence.
Mr. Pawar said by telephone that the incident began on Sunday after a group of four men between the ages of 20 and 25 refused to pay their bill at a restaurant in Dhule’s Machhi Bazaar Chowk (Fish Market Square). The young men began to argue with their waiter, and then the argument quickly turned serious as the restaurant owner and others in the area got involved.
Mr. Pawar said the violence was fueled by religious tensions, as the owner of the restaurant was Hindu while the four customers were Muslim. According to local media reports, the police are looking at the inflammatory content of speeches made by a few Muslim politicians in October that might have inflamed the rioters.
Dhule is normally a peaceful city but has some history of communal violence. In October 2008, riots between the Hindu and Muslim communities shook the city for several days.
Mr. Pawar said that the four men had left restaurant but returned with a crowd from their neighborhood. In the meantime, the restaurant owner had also gathered a crowd, Mr. Pawar said, and within 20 minutes a mob had gathered. Stones were pelted, houses and shops were burned, and motorcycles, bicycles and hand-drawn carts were destroyed.
Two police officers at the nearby station arrived at the scene, but they were unable to curb the violence, Mr. Pawar said.
The riots then spread in the Machhibazar, Palabazar and Madhapura areas of the city. The police sent two platoons of the riot control police, along with a larger police force. Rioters heaved stoned, bricks, acid and soda water bottles at the police officers, according to a statement from the chief minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan.
The police tried to use batons and tear gas to control the crowd and then resorted to opening fire on the rioters, killing five. Four died on Sunday while one succumbed to injuries on Tuesday, said Mr. Pawar.
The injured include 11 police officials, 102 police officers and 100 civilians, according to Mr. Chavan’s statement. The district superintendent of police was among those injured. On Tuesday, Mr. Chavan asked Ahmad Javed, the Maharashtra additional director general of police, to visit Dhule.
The city has been under curfew since 4 p.m. on Sunday, but Mr. Pawar said the curfew was likely to be lifted on Wednesday.
Mr. Chavan has asked the additional district magistrate to investigate the riots and submit a report within two months. He has also said that the government will pay for the treatment of the injured and bear the funeral expenses of those killed by the police.
India Ink: In Maharashtra, Fight Over Restaurant Bill Erupts into Riot
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India Ink: In Maharashtra, Fight Over Restaurant Bill Erupts into Riot
