Communal tension in Dehradun after Muslim girl found hanging with Hindu boy

Dehradun: Communal tension erupted here after a Muslim girl was found roaming around with a Hindu boy at the Dehradun Railway Station as members of the two communities hurled stones at each other and damaged two-wheelers, an official said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday night. Both the boy and the girl are minors hailing from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh and were known to each other, police said.

The girl had allegedly fled her home to meet the boy who works in the Selaqui area near here, he said.

Upon reaching Dehradun, she called the boy who came to meet her at the railway station. Seen walking around at an odd hour, the Railway Police personnel quizzed them, he said.

The police contacted her parents and learnt that a missing complaint had been lodged by them at a police station in Badaun, the official said.

The girl's parents are understood to have spoken to their contacts in Dehradun about the incident.

Soon, members of the two communities gathered outside the railway station and apparently, there was a heated exchange between them, Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh said.

Police rushed to the spot as the two sides hurled stones and damaged some two-wheelers parked outside the railway station, he said.

The crowd was dispersed and the situation was brought under control, the SSP who visited the spot soon after the incident said.

Cases were also registered against those who indulged in vandalism outside the railway station, he added.

Meanwhile, tension gripped the Paltan Bazar and Ghanta Ghar areas of the city on Friday afternoon after a man named Vikas Verma was picked up by police for interrogation in connection with the vandalism outside the railway station.

Traders shut their shops in protest against Verma's detention and staged a dharna demanding his immediate release and the removal of the SSP.

"Vikas Verma is the voice of Hindutva. We demand his immediate release and the removal of the SSP," Bajrang Dal state coordinator Anuj Walia said.