A police inspector and seven constables were injured during a group clash that broke out in the communally sensitive Kyatamaranahalli area in the city on Friday.
The Mysuru City police have clamped prohibitory orders under Udayagiri police station jurisdiction following the violence.
The clash erupted during a protest called by a few Muslim organisations to decry the alleged rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Kashmir. The protesters forcefully closed the shops during their march at Mandi Mohalla, Meena Bazaar and other places. When the protest march reached Kyatamaranahalli Tent Circle, a clash erupted between the protesters and the locals. Vijayanagar Police Inspector Anil Kumar and seven other policemen sustained injuries in the stone pelting. The police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob.
Following the incident, members of a few pro-Hindu organisations staged a protest. MP Pratap Simha said scores of Muslims attacked Hindus and ransacked a few shops.
“A few Muslim community people, holding weapons like machete, roamed around in the Hindu residential areas under the Narasimharaja constituency. They also threw stones at houses, women and children. They are trying to create fear among the Hindus,” he charged.
Simha suspected the hand of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in the violence, for political gains.
Simha, who staged a protest at Kyatamaranahalli Circle, said the trouble-mongers tried to attack him thrice when he was staging the protest. “We would have supported the protest if it was organised to condemn the rape and murder of the girl. But, the protest has been organised for political gains. The protesters want to create a fear among the people in the area. Where were these protesters, when Hindu girls were raped and murdered?” he questioned.
Kyatamaranahalli had witnessed arson and violence during the protests held to condemn the murder of Raju, a BJP worker from the area, on March 13, 2016. Raju was murdered by suspected PFI activists in Udayagiri.