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| Tension grips Poonch after ‘communal’ clash | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 01:
Tension gripped the communally sensitive Poonch town late Wednesday night after majority community people stoned members of minority community and burnt their three motorcycles, besides damaging a Maruti van.
The trouble erupted yesterday at about 10.30 pm when about 15 Sikh youth started felling two trees of Manu wood, which they needed on Baisakhi festival to prepare "prasad" at the highly revered Nangali Sahib.
Police sources said while they started cutting trees, some Muslim youth appeared on the scene and stoned them, forcing them to flee. Three motorcycles, which they left behind, were burnt by the angry majority community youth.Sources said a Maruti van of the minority community youth was also badly damaged in stone-pelting.
The agitated Muslim youth also raised religious slogans, opposing the felling of green trees which provided shade to people during summers. Sources said the Sikh youth had also felled an old eucalyptus tree at the Poonch bus stand few days back. People were not happy over their this act, the sources added.
Sources said the permission for felling tree at Bus Stand was, however, given by Poonch Municipality.
As tension built up today also, MLC Jehangir Mir and some other prominent people met SSP, Poonch, and asked him why the trees were being felled.
Sources said when the SSP told them that a Police Martyrs' Petrol Pump was being set up at the place where the two trees stood, the MLC and the other people realised that tension was the result of a misunderstanding.
The tempers then cooled down and life returned to normalcy in the town, the sources added.
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