NASHIK: A mob of over 200 people ransacked houses and damaged vehicles of two Dalit families at Pimpri Nirmal village in Rahata taluka of Ahmednagar district on Wednesday night.Police on Friday said the accused were still on the run and no one has so far been arrested. Ahmednagar district guardian minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patilvisited the village on Friday and appealed to the residents to maintain peace and social harmony.The minister told the police to ensure "an impartial inquiry" and take strict action against the culprits. He also met members of the two families whose members were assaulted and houses ransacked.Cabinet minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal condemned the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the people behind the attack on the two Dalit families. He claimed that the attack on the Dalit families was a fallout of the voting in the recently held Pimpri Nirmal gram panchayat elections. Viral audio clip triggered tension before Nagar mob violence: Cops Bhujbal said the Dalit voters had mostly cast their ballots to elect one of the candidates as the deputy sarpanch and that did not go down well with the other group. On the basis of a complaint by Sharda Sudhakar Kolge, the Loni police have registered an FIR against around 100 people for offences punishable under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.Trouble had started on Monday when two groups had a scuffle over a petty issue at a bar at Rahata. Subsequently, Vishal Kolge, son of complainant Sharda Kolge, had called up his acquaintance on the latters cellphone and used some abusive words about the person with whom he had the scuffle. Later, Vishals acquaintance made the audio clip viral among the villagers. This made the situation tense in the village the same day.On the evening of Wednesday, a mob of over 200 people went to Vishals house and ransacked it. The complaint stated that the mob broke a television set, threw sacks of foodgrain outside the house, damaged a shed, set ablaze the net on it and damaged a four-wheeler and motorcycle parked outside the neighbouring house that belonged to Shardas sister .On learning of the incident, the police visited the spot and took away the family members of the two families in their protection. Assistant inspector Yuvraj Athre of the Loni police said the search was on to track down the accused.

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