Ram Navami violence was conspiracy hatched by miscreants : Jharkhand min

Jharkhand Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon Tuesday said the violence during Ram Navami festival here was the outcome of a conspiracy hatched by miscreants.

Oraon visited Lohardaga, his home constituency during the day to take stock of the situation at Hirhi Bhokta Bagan area which had witnessed rioting and brick-batting during the Ram Navami procession on April 10.

One person had died and about 12 others were injured in the incident.

He told newsmen that the incident was ''unfortunate'' as peace had been prevailing across the state under the secular Hemant Soren government.

The procession was passing through its traditional route but the miscreants in a conspiracy created hindrance, which led to the violence, the minister claimed.

Elaborating, he said the police apprehending trouble had made elaborate security arrangements in Lohardaga town. The miscreants took advantage of the situation and executed their plan in rural pocket.

Oraon assured that the culprits would be identified by the police and punished. ''The guilty will not be spared,'' he said.

Some people have been taken into custody in connection with the violence and action will be initiated following investigation, the minister asserted.

Oraon said the police and administration were monitoring the situation and made arrests based on evidences.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand police prevented BJP national vice-president Raghubar Das, who is a former chief minister of the state, from meeting the victims' family members. Later, talking to newsmen at the circuit house here, Das alleged that the Lohardaga violence during Ram Navami was pre-planned to disturb the prevailing harmony.

Such conspiracy are being ''hatched continuously'' to hamper peace and communal harmony, particularly during festivals, he alleged.

Das accused Oraon and Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu as being facilitators of the incident and demanded impartial probe into the violence.

He also sought immediate arrest of culprits and stringent action against them. Internet services have been suspended in Lohardaga town and prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC has been clamped in the entire district, officials said.