Narmada: The Narmada police on Tuesday arrested two individuals, including an alleged “witness” in connection with the communal clash that occurred in Selamba town on September 29 during the Shaurya Yatra of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The person is accused of orchestrating an assault on her minor daughter to incite communal discord in the area.

Narmada Superintendent of Police Prashant Sumbe said that Wasim Salim Shaikh, the accused in this case, is booked under the Juvenile Justice Act for inflicting injuries on his minor daughter during the staged assault. After the communal violence on September 29, Shaikh alleged that he received death threats on October 6 for being a witness against 21 accused individuals from another community. Subsequently, on October 7, Shaikh and his minor daughter sought medical assistance for knife wounds they claimed were the result of an attack while returning from the Sagbara police station after obtaining a copy of the FIR filed the previous day.

According to Sumbe, Wasim informed the police that he received the first death threat through a WhatsApp call on October 2. During this call, the caller allegedly asked him to withdraw the names of the 21 accused from the FIR filed at the Sagbara police station. On October 5, while attending a peace committee meeting with members from both communities, Wasim allegedly received another threatening call. The police traced the SIM card used for this call to a man in Mumbai, who revealed that he had given it to another individual named Nadeem, who in turn stated that he had made the threat call on Wasim’s instructions during the meeting.

Members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) were called while recording the statement of Wasim’s minor daughter, who had sustained injuries in the alleged attack on October 7. The child mentioned that her father had attacked her and then called for help. According to Sumbe, it appears that the motive behind the incident was to attract attention and escalate communal tensions in the area.

The investigation is ongoing to determine if others were involved in the incident. Both Wasim and Nadeem have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 181 (false statement on oath or affirmation to a public servant), as well as sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.

This case marks the fourth FIR filed since the incident on September 29. The Sagbara police had previously registered three FIRs, including two based on cross-complaints from members of both communities and one filed by the police against 26 identified individuals from both sides. DeshGujarat