Mob vandalises, torches homes in Chhattisgarh village as police shield minority residents against them

A gang in Dutkaiya village of Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district on Sunday, February 1, 2026, vandalized and set fire to more than half a dozen houses belonging to a minority community, police said. At least seven police officers were injured while protecting more than two dozen people, including women and children, against a crowd of hundreds for several hours.

Police said the communal clash was the result of a chain of events that began a few hours ago when three men, one of whom was out on bail in a temple desecration case, allegedly attacked locals.

Gariaband Superintendent of Police Vedvrat Sirmaur told reporters on Monday, February 2, 2026, that Arif Khan, a resident of Dutkaiya, was lodged in Mana Juvenile Reformatory in 2024 after he and two others allegedly damaged the Chaveshwar Shiva temple in the village. Another officer added that Mr Khan, now 18, was released on bail the same year but did not return to the village until the early hours of Sunday (February 1, 2026) when he and two accomplices from Raipur allegedly attacked four men, including at least one eyewitness of the contempt case.

A building was damaged in the violence in Dutkaiya village of Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district. | Photo Credit: Shubhomoy Sikdar

While the police were registering four cases against Mr Khan and his accomplices and assuring the villagers that he would be arrested, a small mob vandalized Mr Khan’s house in the village. A police team was later sent to the village and the villagers were warned against any provocation.

However, the peace was short-lived and soon a larger crowd of hundreds from Dutkaiya and surrounding villages gathered at the scene. It was claimed that these people, armed with sticks, bricks, stones and kerosene bottles, tried to enter the houses of 10 Muslim families who had locked them.

“The crowd set fire to vehicles and demanded that Muslims be allowed into their homes. Besides being outnumbered, there was also a shortage of manpower due to the Rajim Kumbh. [a major religious congregation in the State]. We kept watch for the next few hours and ensured that the mob did not enter or harm residents, including women and children,” the police officer said.

While the police stood guard, the crowd threw stones and even tried to enter houses from adjacent houses. However, police teams held them off until reinforcements arrived in two groups at 21:00. “Efforts to calm the crowd proved futile. We started shifting the trapped victims to one place,” the police officer recalled.

However, after the last group arrived, police used force to disperse the crowd and rescued about 20 residents on a bus. At least two adults from these families were injured. The police later learned that there was a group of six or seven children trapped in a madrasa. They were later rescued and six police officers were seriously injured.

At midnight, as the situation was brought under control and the police were preparing to leave, a woman in the crowd threw a brick at a police officer who was seriously injured in the head. Others, including the above-mentioned police officer, also suffered superficial or blunt injuries.

When Hindu The team visited the village on Monday afternoon, February 2, 2026, and saw charred vehicles and partially burnt houses. A large police contingent was also present. All Muslim families continue to leave the village and take shelter elsewhere.

Another police officer said that after the incident in 2024, Mr Khan’s relatives left the village for fear of repercussions from their families but were persuaded to return by the administration. Neighborhood residents said that there were tensions between the two communities, but these were due to economic and various reasons.

In the official statement made by the police on Monday, February 2, 2026, “Meanwhile, the above-mentioned events created unrest among the Dutkaiya villagers and the crowd gathered near the suspect’s house. Upon receiving the news, the police team immediately arrived at the scene, took the situation under control and dispersed the crowd. In order to prevent loss of life and property, the minimum force necessary to disperse the unruly crowd was used and the injured were sent to the hospital for treatment.”

Two FIRs were registered in connection with the riot.