INCIDENTS IN INDIA

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23716, 14 August 1942, Page 5

INCIDENTS IN INDIA

Situation Said To Be Easier

TROUBLED AREAS PATROLLED (Received August 13, 11 p.m.)

IN.Z.P.A.) LONDON, August 13. Reports from India to-day indicate that the situation in Bombay has improved, and this morning there have been very few incidents. Police and military detachments are continuing to patrol the troubled areas. All is quiet in Delhi so far to-day, though many shops are still closed. One report says that the situation in India is easier, a considerable factor being the stern warnings by the Governor of Bombay (Sir Roger Lumley) and other authorities that order will be maintained at any cost. These have been accompanied by impressive police and troop reinforcements to the tensest areas. Yesterday's death roll in India ‘is believed to be considerably below Tuesday’s. The death roll throughout India since the outbreak of trouble cannot at present be ascertained, but the dead total at least 61. The correspondent of “The Times” in New. Delhi says; “Accounts of disorders should not be allowed to create an impression that the whole of India is in an uproar. The loss of life is insignificant in. comparison with the death rolls during communal riots. “Railways continue working, as does industry generally. The disorders are spontaneous local outbreaks, rather than an organised national movement.” The Bombay correspondent of “The Times’’ reports that after the Governor’s warning the situation took a definite turn for the better. Trains and trams were fairly normal yesterday. The mill area was quiet and more mills were open. The Bombay correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph” says: “The improvement is partly attributable to the greatly increased military patrols, Steel-helmeted patrols with fixed bayonets are posted in great strength in the mill area.” Burning of Public Buildings Incidents yesterday included the burning of three police stations, a bank, and the city post office at Nagpur, where a crowd also attempted to burn a power-house and stoned the administration buildings. A mob looted a Government grain shop in Bombay. Police in Delhi fired on a crowd which burst into the post office, threw stamps and postcards into the street, and attempted to set fire to them. The main shopping cenre of Old Delhi is barricaded off. The banks and many shops are still closed. Troops are guarding all the entrances to New Delhi with a view to preventing the spread of trouble from the old city. The police opened flrfe several times on mobs in Bombay yesterday. In one instance firing occurred when a crowd at Nasik attempted to snatch arms from police who were escorting arrested persons. Rioters stabbed several constables and freed one prisoner. The police also fired on rioters in Old Delhi, Moradabad, Karachi, Cawnpore, Madras, Bassein, and Ahmadabad. In Madras the police fired in self-defence when a mob pelted them with stones. Two post offices were looted at Cawnpore. The authorities in Cawnpore and Lucknow have decreed the death penalty for rioting. Six self-governing civic bodies in Nagpur have been suspended, on the ground that they are supporting the Congress .Party.