CCTV footage from Nagpur reveals a pre-planned riot involving 80-100 people. The mob, with covered faces and armed with stones, petrol bombs, and axes, targeted vehicles, shops, and police officers.
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00:00Shocking images have come to the fore of exactly what happened in Nagpur last night, which
00:06has never witnessed this kind of rioting, this kind of violence before.
00:10So what exactly happened?
00:12We've accessed a whole score of CCTV footage, but the most damning ones we'll break down
00:17for you.
00:18The six CCTV footages that confirm that this was a pre-planned conspiracy here on Super
00:23Six.
00:24The first one on your screens shows vehicles on fire, and actually in the very beginning
00:28of the footage you see people hurling something at the vehicle.
00:31It's suspected that petrol bombs were used to ensure incidents of arson, to ensure explosions
00:37took place in Nagpur last night.
00:40Where did these petrol bombs come from?
00:42You see this mob there gathered very close, throwing items, stones, also suspected to
00:47be petrol bombs.
00:48Let's get you the second footage that we want to show you here on India Today, where you
00:52see in fact this mob running full speed.
00:55Some of them have their faces covered, some don't.
00:58But you see how brazenly they're going ahead and targeting vehicles, vandalising vehicles,
01:03vandalising public property, which sticks seemingly, God knows where they got all this
01:08from.
01:09They're going ahead and targeting all the vehicles parked along this area.
01:12Imagine now how much local residents suffered as a result of this kind of riots.
01:17Third CCTV footage that we'd like to show you here on India Today shows how brazenly
01:23cops were attacked, even police officials weren't spared.
01:27Senior officers were all seen wounded, four DCPs injured, in all over 30 cops have been
01:33injured as a result of pelting.
01:35And what we've seen here, and this is something authorities also have confirmed, is that police
01:39officials who were at this spot were targeted by this mob.
01:43No fear of law, clearly.
01:44They went on this rampage, targeting cops, pelting stones at them.
01:47One police officer was also attacked with an axe.
01:50And we'll talk about that in just a bit, of how he had a deep gash on his hand because
01:56he was attacked by an axe.
01:58We'll decode for you how cops have been the target particularly of all of this violence
02:03last night.
02:04But let's get you the next set of images as well of the violence that unfolded in Nagpur.
02:10Here you see a bunch of these mobsters clearly going out and targeting shops, vandalising
02:19any local establishment, vandalising locals.
02:21So just look at the number of people.
02:23Police Minister Devendra Fadnavis has confirmed that there were 80 to 100 people involved
02:27and they all had massive stones with which they were vandalising property left, right
02:32and centre, completely not caring really about the kind of security establishment.
02:38And what you see there is also CCTV camera being destroyed to ensure there's no evidence
02:43per se to nab them.
02:45Let's get you the next footage of what exactly happened.
02:48Now this you see how vehicles were in fact brought down, how stone pelting repeatedly
02:54happened and all of them, many of them rather, have their faces completely covered to ensure
03:00they can't be identified.
03:01This almost has become a one-on-one on how to ride, which is that they'll cover their
03:05faces so nobody can identify them and they think they can get away with this kind of
03:10a crime.
03:11Many of them had their faces covered, many of them were armed and obviously all of that
03:16is evidence that, you know, this wasn't just some sort of spontaneous anger out on the
03:21streets.
03:22Let's get you the next sequence as well and show you how you had local establishments
03:27suffering the plight and suffering because of this mob that went on this kind of a rampage
03:33and they were out there for many hours, not listening to the cops, not caring that there
03:39was a crackdown on them.
03:40They continued despite that and these are youngsters who don't even have their faces
03:43covered, which is why many of them have been identified.
03:49So we've shown you all the CCTV footage that's emerged from riot at Nagpur, six particular
03:53ones that we wanted to highlight here on Super 6 because every single frame of that footage
03:58shows you that this was a pre-planned incident to incite, to spread violence, so all in the
04:03name of Aurangzeb, a Mughal emperor after so many centuries, now back grabbing headlines
04:09and triggering this kind of violence.
04:11That's why we're saying this is pre-planned.
04:14First there's proof that the mobsters all of course had in fact covered their faces.
04:18Let's take it from number one.
04:20They covered their faces to ensure their identities aren't revealed.
04:23Second this mob was armed.
04:25They had sticks.
04:26Reports suggest they had swords.
04:29Some of them had axes.
04:30The mob even had petrol bombs, which takes time to prepare.
04:33Where did they get this from?
04:35But they used it to create widespread incidents of arson and this perhaps is the most incriminating.
04:39A truck filled with stones was caught by our cameras when in fact this riot broke out
04:45in Nagpur.
04:46So if you're wondering how these incidents of pelting suddenly happened that this was
04:50a mob that you know went out onto the streets, grabbed stones, not really.
04:53There was a truck laden with stones just waiting there conveniently enough for this mob to
04:57hit the streets and target cops, target locals.
05:01So now there's also an investigation launched into whether this was pre-planned because
05:05like I showed you, there's enough evidence that seems to suggest that everything was
05:09just perfectly put in place for this kind of a riot, for this kind of violence.
05:15The audacity of this mob was shocking, specifically targeting police officers.
05:1930 cops were injured, 35 and just look at all of this footage of how cops were struggling
05:26after they were pelted with stones.
05:28You'd think that the men in khaki would be spared from violence.
05:33Not really the case.
05:34There was a senior police official seen there with his hand cut.
05:37Another police official even attacked with an axe who's got a deep gash on his hand as
05:42a result.
05:43Now you see other footage of in fact another police officer with a fracture.
05:49All of this playing out because these police officials bravely tried to stop this murderous
05:54mob.
05:55Four DCPs were injured in this manner.
05:58One of them with a bleeding hand because of an axe.
06:01In fact he tried to stop an axe when one of the mobsters came towards him with it.
06:07These are the kind of injuries that police officials have suffered as a result of this
06:12mob apparently frenzied, apparently triggered by some rumor went on this rampage.
06:18They were waiting for an excuse quite simply and that's what led to cops being attacked
06:22and this clearly establishes that there was zero fear of the law.
06:25These hooligans were so sure they'd get away with it.
06:29This mob was about 80-100 people and all of them, every single one of them unfortunately
06:34is yet to be identified, about 60 have been taken into custody.
07:29So apparently what triggered this entire riot was a rumor.
07:42What exactly was this about?
07:43It was communal in nature.
07:45So let's just explain to you the timeline of what exactly happened.
07:48Yesterday at about 12pm is when you had protests by Hindu groups, right-wing groups in Sambhaji
07:53Nagar district in Nagpur.
07:56They were seen burning Aurangzeb's effigy.
07:58This happened at 12pm which we had reported here on India Today as well.
08:01We got your live reports.
08:03By about 2pm yesterday afternoon, rumors started spreading among Muslims that the tomb had
08:09been targeted.
08:10Now we can't go into the nature of this rumor because it was extremely communal and we don't
08:14want to trigger any sort of flare-up considering it's very sensitive right now, the situation
08:19in Maharashtra.
08:21But essentially this happened at 2pm, then at 5pm Muslim youth started to gather.
08:25These were groups who had gathered in Nagpur.
08:28By 7pm things escalated because sloganeering began.
08:31It was clear that the numbers were swelling up, so you saw more police deployment also
08:35there.
08:36But in a matter of 15 minutes, things quickly went out of hand.
08:40It escalated because stones were pelted at police officials, Nagpur cops who were there.
08:4515 minutes later, siren 30, news started trickling in that there were incidents of arson, incidents
08:50of vandalism.
08:52After all of this sloganeering, it quickly escalated because you had 100 people who had
08:57gathered on the streets of Nagpur.
08:59And then by around 8pm, cars were torched, shops were vandalized, locals realized it's
09:04not safe anymore.
09:06They went inside their homes, even their homes, their establishments were targeted.
09:10It was at around 9.30, two hours after the violence really began, that cops realized
09:15this will not do.
09:17We can't go ahead and stop this until we crack down on the mob.
09:21And that's why cops resorted to lathi charge, tear gas shells were fired, and only after
09:26that did this mob start dispersing.
09:29So from 7pm to 9.30 is when we saw all of this chaos playing out.
09:36So who's to blame for the riots that broke out?
09:39Let's be very clear that the atmosphere was vitiated by our politicians because you've
09:43seen this in the last few weeks.
09:44We've shown you here on India Today how you've seen comment after comment by politicians
09:49about Aurangzeb.
09:50They've made communal comments, they've ignited passions of Aurangzeb from both sides and
09:55made all sorts of provocative statements and yet none of them have been held accountable.
10:00Instead Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called a movie a trigger for
10:05the violence.
10:06That's right.
10:07Imagine this, in the Maharashtra Assembly, the Chief Minister has blamed the Chawah movie
10:11for what's happening.
10:12And here's one comment really about any of the Netas who spewed venom using the movie.
10:42So a film based on historical facts, which could have of course triggered a debate, led
11:03to everyone talking about Aurangzeb, according to Mr. Fadnavis also led to the violence.
11:08Not any of the comments, not Abu Azmi hailing Aurangzeb as a good ruler, not Fadnavis himself
11:13paying heed to the calls for the Aurangzeb tomb to be demolished, not Shiv Sena backing
11:17right-wing groups for action against the tomb.
11:19The atmosphere was vitiated and our Netas must be held accountable for doing so, for
11:24creating communal divisions over a Mughal emperor just to pander to their respective
11:29word bands.
11:30So no, a film can trigger a debate, it cannot lead to these riots weeks after it's released
11:36unless misused, unless exploited as it was in this case in the last many weeks.
11:41And we've shown you so many of those comments.
11:44But today let's talk about the reactions that have come in on these riots in Nagpur with
11:48the opposition raising questions really of the Mahayati government.
11:52Let's get to what the opposition had to say.
13:48Just to show you the extent of damage reported and how bad this riot and violence really
13:54was last night.
13:55Here are some ground reports by my colleagues Sumi and Mustafa who have been there since
13:59late last night showing you the extent of damage really created because of this right
14:04and how locals lives have been turned upside down in the last 24 hours.
14:10Your conspiracy was hatched and in fact the way that they were prepared with everything,
14:15they were well equipped to carry out this huge, huge mob and in fact to erupt violence
14:21at various points in Nagpur, which is otherwise very, very peaceful.
14:25I would like you to show this particular shop that has been destroyed.
14:29It is in the, it is known as Fatehpuria shop and this particular cloth shop has been destroyed.
14:34This is the heights and the gravity of the violence that took place here in Nagpur.
14:39You'll see the stones were hurled to such a height that the, that the glass panels of
14:45this particular shop has been completely destroyed and broken and you'll see the CCTV footages
14:50on both the ends of the shutter can be seen destroyed so that it becomes a challenging
14:55or daunting task for the forces to identify the writers.
14:59And this is something that has happened across Nagpur, all the CCTV footages wherever possible
15:05were broken, which is why it certainly indicates the very fact that it was pre-planned and
15:10the kind of stones, the brick baths that they were carrying, the kind of, you know,
15:14cobblestones that they were carrying, heavy concrete bricks they have used to pelt stones
15:20and to destroy properties that came in their hindsight and in fact 10 to 12 vehicles have
15:25been destroyed.
15:26Almost 20 vehicles have been destroyed and 10 to 12 police personnel have been severely
15:31injured including three DSP, including three DCPs who are now currently undergoing treatment.
15:38The violent clashes that disrupted the harmony of Nagpur took place on March 17 in the wee
15:43hours of 7.30pm and in fact it panned for two hours and it took place at 7.30, went
15:50on till 9.30.
15:51I'm showing you the latest visuals from Mahal area where this entire incident took place.
15:56This particular Tiago, silver Tiago that you're witnessing out here has been set ablaze.
16:02Every vehicle that was parked outside on this particular street met the same fate including
16:07this particular Swift Desire here as well that has been completely disturbed and disrupted
16:14and in fact the window and the entire vehicle has been completely destroyed and several
16:21teams of police, the contingency you can see to avoid further escalation and law and order
16:27remains intact is certainly the priority of the state government right now and there is
16:33a lot of blame game that's also happening right here.
16:37Although Nitin Gadkari, the union minister as well as the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis
16:41have asked that all of the people in the neighbourhood should maintain peace.
16:46Nagpur is known for its harmony and people should now show that Nagpur has always been
16:52this place of harmony and it should always continue to be like that despite such disruptors.
16:59This is Sumi Rajappan for India Today with video journalist Raghavendra Pandey from Nagpur.
17:02We are in Nagpur.
17:04This area is Hamsapuri.
17:06The violence took place in Mahal area of Nagpur after that two hours later there was a huge
17:13crowd of about 350 to 400 people covering their faces, raising slogans, having weapons
17:19in their hands.
17:20The sharp knife you can see is in the hands of one of the rioter accused and the CCTVs
17:27have been broken.
17:28You can see these motorcycles of the residents have been burnt and not only that, that crowd
17:34was violent.
17:35They were throwing stones and at this point you can say that people who were living here,
17:42their residences, their houses, there was stone pelted at these houses.
17:46They were trying to get inside but somehow these people were able to save their lives.
17:53After the incident that took place yesterday, what was the intention of these people?
17:59They said that it was the same picture, that something or the other, they should burn the
18:03house.
18:04The house would have been burnt if we hadn't poured water on it with our own hands.
18:07The house would have been burnt so badly, how could we have done it with the help of
18:11our neighbours?
18:12After that, if their hands, if we had come, they wouldn't have been able to get inside.
18:20If we had come, they would have broken the door as well.
18:25We somehow managed to go inside, closed the door and got inside.
18:31But still, if we hadn't come, they would have destroyed their cars.
18:36If we had come, they would have finished our picture.
18:40And you can see across, this is one house, across also there are mobile videos which
18:46have come forward.
18:47The crowd which was there turned violent, tried to break this, the door of this house,
18:53the door of the house is broken.
18:55And the entire vicinity is somewhere you can say that they are scared, they are asking
19:01a lot of questions and they are saying that what happened yesterday, they are not...