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- Thousands defied curfew in Pipliamandi, beat up the collector and policemen, torched warehouses and vehicles looted liquor shops
- Cops only made feeble attempts to drive away angry demonstrators
PIPLIAMANDI (MANDSAUR): Ground zero in Mandsaur, the site of Tuesday's shooting of five farmers, resembled a war zone on Wednesday as thousands of protesters defied curfew in Pipliamandi, beat up the collector and policemen, torched warehouses and vehicles, and looted liquor shops. More than a dozen policemen were injured and an officer, R B Sharma, was in critical condition.
Just about anybody on the street who was not part of the mob was a target. Many journalists, including from TOI, were injured in stone-pelting by riotous mobs. The town was cut off from the rest of the state as chaos reigned in Mandsaur. Among politicians stopped from entering the town were BJP state chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan and agriculture minister Gaurishankar Bisen. Congress ex-MP Meenakshi Natarajan was detained when she tried to reach Suwasara village.
The cops seemed restrained after Tuesday's deaths, and made feeble attempts to drive away angry demonstrators. Sources said this may have encouraged the protesters, resulting in a free for all even as the administration described them as "instigators and anti-social elements".
The attacks began in the morning as funeral processions heightened emotions in Barkheda Panth village. Mandsaur collector Swantantra Kumar Singh went to the protest site to calm sentiments, but was pushed around and slapped. Even as the collector was being escorted out, a mob set fire to the toll collection booth and brickbatted policemen. A cotton warehouse was set ablaze and when two fire trucks arrived, protesters smashed the windscreens, forcing the firemen to flee.
A 5-km stretch of the Mandsaur bypass road was blocked by protesters, who burned and looted highway heavy vehicles with abandon. Journalists reporting the arson were also targets of brickbatting, and many of them were injured. More than 22 vehicles, including trucks, were burned and their smouldering frames lay scattered by the Mandsaur bypass. The Rapid Action Force (RAF) came charging, along with riot control Vajra vehicles, but the mob wasn't deterred. Suwasara police station in-charge Haribabu Sharma was beaten up. A mob set an ATM on fire in Kayampur after failing to break in.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-vehicles-loot-shops/articleshow/59043548.cms