Internet Control

Prohibitory orders were clamped and internet services suspended by the authorities at Bhainsa town in Nirmal district, following communal clashes between two groups on Sunday evening.

Some houses, vehicles, and petty business establishments were damaged in the arson that followed the violence on Sunday. This led the law enforcing authorities to invoke the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety Rules 2017) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, to stop locals from sharing videos and photographs of the incidents on online messaging platforms and to contain the issue. The police had resorted to lathicharge for more than half-a-dozen times till Monday afternoon.

More than 10 people, including police personnel and a journalist of a Telugu news channel, suffered severe injuries, in the clashes. The journalist, Vijay, who rushed to the spot to report the incident, was attacked by a few miscreants with a sword. After first-aid in a local hospital, Mr. Vijay was shifted to a corporate hospital in Secunderabad, where his condition is said to be stable.