Violence Mars Buddha Jayanti Celebration in Bhedoda Village

Bhedoda village witnessed unrest during the Buddha Jayanti celebration due to ongoing disputes involving the Prajna Sheel Karuna Mandal, which has been embroiled in a social conflict for the past four years. The root cause of the conflict lies in the misappropriation of over a lakh rupees by self-proclaimed office-bearers of the now-defunct committee, who acted without the consent of the community. Moreover, a small group from the mandal sidelined the larger community and ran the affairs in an arbitrary and disorganized manner.
Feeling betrayed, the aggrieved community members approached Rajura Police Station and submitted a complaint to Senior Officer Mr. Hirde and Station In-Charge of Rajura. Upon investigation, the officers realized that the mandal had been officially dissolved on 26/12/2017, and thus, no one held any legitimate position. The officers called three key individuals from the community and instructed them to form a new committee by electing three members each, to ensure the smooth functioning of social affairs.
Accordingly, under the supervision of Police Officer Mr. Urkude, the resignation of old office-bearers was secured, and the process of electing new members began. Ganesh Lokhande, an M.A. graduate, was elected with a majority. However, his selection was not accepted by a disruptive individual, Vaman Durge, who opposed the decision. His supporters, reportedly intoxicated, disrupted the proceedings even in front of police officers and broke up the meeting.
In the meantime, these troublemakers secretly brought a statue of Lord Buddha and placed it in a corner of the Vihara at 2 AM without informing the community. Then on the night of the 8th, at around 1 AM, they stealthily and unilaterally installed the statue on the Vihara stage without any formal ceremony. This led to widespread outrage in the village the following morning, marking the beginning of a new wave of disputes.
To mediate, a temporary compromise was arranged through Ganpat Ratne, where Gangaram Ratne was appointed as the administrator and was to hoist the flag on Buddha Jayanti. However, when the community gathered at the Vihara for the flag hoisting, the troublemakers had already planned a disruption. They ensured that the flag was hoisted not by Gangaram Ratne, but by Kawdu Satpute, surprising everyone.
During a brief discussion about this breach of agreement, the troublemakers suddenly began pelting stones and bricks. They even used chairs – on which pictures of Lord Buddha and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar were placed – as weapons. In the chaos, the pictures of the revered leaders were thrown to the ground and trampled.
Several individuals sustained head injuries, and innocent people were brutally beaten. Shockingly, instead of apprehending the real culprits, Officer Urkude allegedly assaulted the innocent victims. Anshul Lokhande received a serious head injury and is currently undergoing treatment at the Rural Hospital in Rajura. In total, five to seven people were injured and are being treated at the same hospital.
Based on these incidents, a case has been registered under IPC Section 111 and other applicable sections related to group violence at Rajura Police Station. The main accused identified in this matter include:Aditya Durge, Shilchand Dahagaonkar, Vaman Durge, Diwakar Durge, Ramesh Moon, Shankar Zhade, Shankar Ratne, Ganesh Durge, Vishwanath Govardhan, Ramesh Kamble, Rajesh Dahagaonkar, Vyankati Kamble, Pratiksha Zhade, Mangala Moon, Sapna Udrake, Suman Durge, Roshni Durge, Suresh Dahagaonkar, among otFurther investigation is underway, and police from the Reserve Force have been deployed in the village to maintain law and order.