Jaipur Tensions: Police Attacked While Clearing Illegal Encroachment Near Mosque

Image: Jihad Watch

Friday occupies a special place in Islam as the day of Jumma, when Muslims gather in large numbers for congregational prayers. In India, however, Fridays have increasingly become associated with law-and-order challenges, marked by aggressive protests, street mobilisations, and episodes of mob violence that frequently erupt after prayers conclude. In a recent incident, this familiar pattern took a more disturbing turn when violence broke out well before the prayer hours, with Muslim mobs resorting to stone-pelting in the dead of night.

Communal tension engulfed the town of Chomu in Rajasthan’s Jaipur district around 2 a.m. after a long-simmering dispute over encroachments near a mosque spiralled into open violence. What began as an administrative operation to clear public land outside a mosque quickly escalated into an unruly gathering that launched violent attacks on law enforcement personnel. In the clashes that followed, at least six police officers were injured, several of them sustaining head injuries from stones. Within hours, police arrested more than 50 individuals as authorities moved swiftly to bring the situation under control. As a precautionary measure, internet services and access to social media platforms were suspended to prevent the spread of rumours and to block real-time coordination among mobs.

At the centre of the dispute was a Qalandari mosque located near the Chomu bus stand, one of the town’s busiest traffic junctions. For nearly 45 years, large stones had been placed along the roadside outside the mosque, significantly narrowing the road and causing chronic traffic congestion. Local residents, shopkeepers, and commuters had repeatedly complained about the obstruction, prompting the district administration to intervene in order to restore smooth traffic flow.

Before initiating any action, officials engaged in discussions with representatives of the local Muslim community. Following these talks, the removal of the stones was carried out with apparent mutual consent. The initial phase of the operation proceeded peacefully, and the stones were successfully cleared without incident.

However, the situation took a sharp turn when members of the Muslim community began installing permanent iron railings at the same site shortly after the stones were removed. Police and administrative officials viewed this as a fresh attempt to re-encroach upon public land. When authorities objected and attempted to remove the newly installed structures late Thursday night, resistance began to build, gradually escalating tensions in the area.

The confrontation reached its peak in the early hours of Friday when a police team, supported by additional forces, arrived between 2 and 3 a.m. to dismantle the iron railings and restore the road to public use. Instead of cooperation, the officers were met with fierce opposition. A mob gathered rapidly and began pelting stones at the police personnel. The violence left six officers injured, with several sustaining serious but non-fatal wounds. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, where their condition was later reported to be stable, even as the area descended into chaos.

To regain control, police resorted to a lathi charge and fired tear gas shells to disperse the attackers. Rioters also vandalised police vehicles and damaged nearby property. As the situation worsened, senior officers and reinforcements from multiple police stations—including Jaipur Police Lines, Harmada, Daulatpura, and Vishwakarma—were rushed to Chomu. Riot-control units and Special Task Force personnel were deployed to prevent the violence from spreading further.

By Saturday morning, nearly 110 individuals had been detained in connection with the unrest. Authorities stated that identification of additional suspects was ongoing and that strict legal action would follow against those responsible for attacking police and disrupting public order. The area around the Chomu bus stand was effectively converted into a high-security zone, with heavy police deployment and regular flag marches aimed at reassuring residents and deterring further disturbances. Despite these measures, tensions remained palpable among sections of the population.

In response to the violence, the district administration imposed a 24-hour suspension of internet services across Chomu. Mobile data and access to social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and X were shut down from 7 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. Officials said the move was necessary to curb the spread of misinformation and inflammatory messages that could provoke further unrest. Past incidents of mob violence have demonstrated how social media platforms can be exploited to rapidly mobilise crowds and escalate tensions on the ground.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing, with authorities focused on fixing accountability for the stone-pelting and attacks on administrative personnel. This episode is not an isolated one. In recent years, several encroachment-removal drives involving illegal Islamic structures have met with violent resistance. In June 2024, police conducting an anti-encroachment operation in Kathua were attacked by Muslim mobs, resulting in injuries to a DSP and five other personnel, and damage to JCB machines deployed to demolish an illegal mosque.

Similarly, in February 2024, the town of Haldwani witnessed large-scale violence during an anti-encroachment drive in the Banbhoolpura area. Police and municipal teams attempting to demolish illegal structures, including a madrasa and a mosque built on government land, were met with stone-pelting and the use of incendiary materials. The clashes led to multiple deaths, injuries to security forces, and extensive damage to public property, forcing authorities to impose curfew and deploy additional forces to restore order.

The Chomu incident once again underscores the recurring pattern of violent resistance faced by law enforcement during encroachment-removal operations, raising serious concerns about public order, rule of law, and the growing challenge of mob-driven unrest.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)