A little-known right-wing group, whose members created mayhem with provocative speeches urging people not to accommodate Muslim vendors, instigated locals to evict Muslim tenants and assaulted shopkeepers, leading Dehradun police to file an FIR against five of its members.
A gathering of 50-60 individuals protesting against the alleged sexual abuse of a minor on February 4 in the Nathuwala locality heard Kali Sena members inciting Hindus to target members of the Muslim community, The Indian Express reported.
According to the police, the gathering escalated into a procession from Nathuwala to Donali, during which signboards and banners of shops owned by members of other communities were vandalised, and inflammatory rhetoric was spread.
The next day, the outfit allegedly used social media to organise another meeting at Donali Trijunction, where landlords and shop owners were pressured to evict tenants from specific communities within a week, with threats of forcible removals.
The situation intensified later in the day as the group forcibly expelled Muslim vendors from the weekly bazaar near a primary school in Lower Tunwala, where they reportedly declared the market exclusively for members of the majority community or Sanatanis.
Several vendors were allegedly abused and assaulted while being warned against returning, with threats of severe consequences if they attempted to resume their business.
The police, acting on a complaint by the in-charge of the Balawala Outpost, have filed an FIR citing the communal nature of the speeches and their role in escalating tensions in the locality.
The FIR names Bhupesh Joshi along with his associates Vaibhav Panwar, Ajay Captain, Acharya Vipul Bangwal, and retired Army man Rajendra Singh Negi, with further investigations underway to identify other individuals involved.