A fact-finding study has revealed that the mob attacks on a 300-year-old mosque and several Muslim-owned homes and assets in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, on July 14 were orchestrated. The report indicates that the assailants were brought in from another location specifically to inflict damage on Gajapur village.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the heads of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), the Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), and other organizations said that the entire incident be investigated under the supervision of the High Court.
The rights bodies said that every attacker was an outsider. Before using violence, a local guy named Narayan Pandurang Velhar—who is also accused in the FIR—hosted various meetings at the request of a person by the name of Ravinder Padwal. At first, the police expressed reluctance to include Velhar’s name in the FIR.
The assailants carried swords, iron pipes, rods, pick axes, hammers, and other weapons.
The group discovered that attacks had occurred on 42 buildings in the Gajapur hamlet, including 10 stores, 41 homes, and a 300-year-old mosque. In addition, 51 vehicles sustained damage, comprising 34 two-wheelers and 17 four-wheelers. The long-lasting onslaught lasted from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. Six tolas of gold and ninety-six thousand rupees were taken from a home. Two other residences were also plundered, yielding three tolas of gold and some cash.Electrical connections, refrigerators, cabinets, and TV sets were all damaged.
According to the team’s report, a cemetery’s walls were broken and a copy of the Holy Qur’an was set on fire.
The report stated that while there were 15,000 participants in the parade, only around 1,500 participated in the attacks.
“The attack appears to have had a political and communal motive, as it occurred during the run-up to the assembly elections and specifically targeted members of the Muslim community who were not involved in the encroachments,” the fact finding report said.
The bodies said that the mobs also attacked the police, inflicting injuries on 11 officers. The Muslim community would have been fatally assaulted if they hadn’t escaped into the forest. One victim, a disabled man named Yaqoob Muhammad Parbolkar, had two fractures in his leg and one in his arm. He is now receiving care in Miraj’s Dr. Parani Hospital.
The committee requested adequate compensation for the residents of Gajapur village since the government is currently providing inadequate checks ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per household.
It called for the filing of individual FIRs for each person’s losses, an investigation overseen by the High Court, harsh penalties for the offenders, and terror accusations against them.
The fact-finding team included the following individuals: Advocate Abhay Taksal, Communist Party of India, Aurangabad; Ravi Patil, Academy of Secular Ethics and Humanity; Pritam Ghanghave, Teacher; Mohammad Aslam Ghazi, Executive President APCR Maharashtra; Abdul Mujeeb, Secretary Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Maharashtra; and Mithila Raut of the CSSS.
The 300-year-old Masjid Raza Jama Masjid Trust chairman, Siraj Qasim Parbholkar, and several villagers were among the victims of the attack that the group met at Gajapur.
