B Block in northwest Delhi’s Sangam Park lay shuttered Tuesday. A tailor’s shop, kirana stores, repair outlets and even the local madrasa remained shut, for the second consecutive day. Many homes in the block, especially those of Muslims, remained locked. People who live in these homes have keeping away from the area, which saw a communal flare-up “for the first time” in recent memory. Md Wasim,a resident of B block, shifted his wife, their two-year-old daughter, and his father to a relative’s home in Adarsh Nagar after he narrowly escaped a mob attack Sunday. “I was driving my family through an alley when I saw a mob approaching. We got out of the car and fled. When I came back a few hours later, I saw the car windows had been smashed and the bonnet punctured, likely with iron rods. I was so scared that I sneaked my family out of the colony that very night,” said Wasim, a driver. Watch Video Visuals Of The Mob Violence In Bharat Nagar Some families, however, started returning to Sangam Park Tuesday evening, after receiving reassuring calls from those who stayed put about increased police presence. Taslima returned home with her children after her neighbour Azhar, a BPO owner, informed her the area was calm. “I have small children. On Sunday, the mob had come right up to the chowk outside our homes. We left for my mother’s home in Chandni Chowk the next day,” she said. Tension gripped the area Saturday following allegations of a girl being molested by a Muslim boy. Clashes erupted after the boy, Abid, was allegedly beaten up. At least 10 people were injured in clashes over two days between Valmikis and Muslims. The family of the girl whom Abid allegedly molested has disappeared, according to neighbours. The girl’s brother and Abid are lodged in Tihar jail. Members of the Muslim community claimed Abid had gone to deliver snacks to the girl’s family, when he was attacked by her brother. Members of the Valmiki community, however, claimed he had molested her, which is why he was beaten up. The colony has quarters allotted to sanitation workers in the early 1980s. “This is the first time the colony became so communally charged. My daughter ties our neighbour Salim Bhai a rakhi every Raksha Bandhan. A fight between two families became so big. How did we get here, I wonder,” said Renu, whose husband works in the MCD. “But, I don’t blame the girl’s family. If someone tries to hurt our daughters, we will take up arms.”
