Communal tension in Telangana over erection of flags, police use lathicharge

Tension flared up in Telangana’s Vikarabad district on Wednesday following a row between two communities over the erection of a flag at the old bus stand.
The incident took place when a group of men, belonging to the Muslim community, erected a green flag at the site, which was later removed and discarded onto the road by members of the Hindu community.
The situation quickly became volatile as the disagreement over the flag sparked anger among the local population.
The police rushed to the scene and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd.
Senior officials of the police department from Hyderabad are monitoring the situation.
Authorities have since deployed additional security personnel to the area to prevent further escalation and maintain peace.
Senior police official Yogesh Goutam stated, “At the old bus stand, a bust of Veer Savarkar is located next to a caution board where members of the Muslim community had erected a flag for Milad un Nabi. This sparked objections from the Hindu community, who claimed that such a flag had never been placed there before. A heated argument ensued, escalating into stone-throwing between the two groups. Our personnel intervened promptly, employing a mild lathi charge to disperse the crowd. The situation is now under control, and the Milad un Nabi procession will proceed as per the granted permissions. We have established pickets and deployed additional forces at sensitive locations to maintain peace and prevent further disturbances.”