Tehri: Muslim-owned shops vandalised over missing girl, ‘love jihad’ claims

Angry locals on Tuesday, 29 October, vandalised the shop of a youth belonging to a particular community after the disappearance of a teenage girl in Kirtinagar area of Tehri.

Some locals alleged religious conversion and 'love jihad' was behind the disappearance of the girl.

A case has been registered and a search has started for the missing teenager as well as the accused, police said.

The local people protested in Kirtinagar market area on Tuesday, demanding that the teenager be found and action taken against those responsible for her disappearance.

The locals vandalised the shop of another youth whom they suspected of having a hand in it.

They also broke the hoardings of some other shops belonging to a 'particular community', they said.

Subsequently, they took out a rally from Kirtinagar main market to Jakhani. A heavy police presence had remained deployed in the market area during the 'protests'.

BJP leader Lakhpat Bhandari said the minor girl was misled conspiratorially with the intention to convert her. The police were informed about this earlier but no concrete action was taken, he claimed.

The accused, who runs a barber shop, is absconding while the police have not been able to trace the teenager, who disappeared from her home, he said.

A case has been registered against Salman, a resident of Najibabad in Bijnor district, under the Uttarakhand Religious Freedom Act and the POCSO Act, Tehri's additional superintendent of police J.R. Joshi said.

A search is on to trace the girl, he said. The accused will also be nabbed soon, the ASP said.

He appealed to the people to maintain calm.