A violent clash broke out between two groups over honking in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district on New Year's Eve, with several vehicles and shops being torched in the area. According to officials, there was a heated exchange between two groups of locals in Paladhi village. The clashes erupted when the driver of a car allegedly honked and asked the other group to give way.
Visuals of the incident show several cars and shops engulfed in fire.
Seven people have been arrested and a curfew was imposed, which was lifted this morning.
Additional police personnel, State Reserve Police Force, and Riot Control Police teams alongside fire brigade vehicles were deployed to bring the situation under control.
Records of 15 shops and vehicles that were allegedly destroyed during the clash have been collected, an official said. A shopkeeper claimed he suffered losses of around Rs 3 lakh.
"I have been running this shop for the past two years," he said.
Reports suggested that the man driving the car was State Minister Gulabrao Patil's driver.
NCP-SCP leader Jitendra Awhad held the minister "responsible" for the chaos, alleging a political background to the violence.
Shiv Sena MLC and party spokesperson Manisha Kayande demanded a thorough investigation into the incident. "A thorough investigation should be done to ascertain facts and find out if there was any mischief to harm the life of state Minister Gulab Rao Patil and his family. I am sure Maharashtra Police will do its job," he said.
Congress MLA Nitin Raut has blamed the state government for the incident.
"The government is not paying attention to it and it is involved in making people fight in the name of religion and caste. They want people to be busy with such issues so that they won't demand development from the government... This is the failure of the government," Mr Raut said.
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