On 12 November 2021, rallies by Muslim organisations in Maharashtra protesting reported attacks on mosques in Tripura turned violent in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded. The next day a bandh called by the BJP in Amravati brought stone-pelting and arson, and police imposed a curfew and suspended internet services. Police arrested people from both communities, including former minister Anil Bonde; in November 2025 a sessions court acquitted 30 accused in one set of cases.
Key takeaways
- Rallies on 12 November 2021 over reported attacks on mosques in Tripura saw stone-pelting in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded.
- A BJP-called bandh in Amravati on 13 November turned violent, and a curfew and internet suspension followed.
- Police arrested 188 people from both communities in Amravati by 16-17 November, including BJP leaders such as Anil Bonde, who were bailed.
- In November 2025 a sessions court acquitted 30 accused in 15 Amravati FIRs.
Background: the Tripura reports
In Tripura, on the evening of 26 October 2021, a mosque was vandalised and two shops set on fire at Chamtilla in North Tripura during a VHP rally held over attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, according to the North Tripura Superintendent of Police EastMojo/PTI. A separate page covers the Tripura violence of 2021.
In Maharashtra, Raza Academy, a Sunni Barelvi organisation, called a bandh for 12 November "in solidarity with the people of Tripura" Sabrang. Its memorandum to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari sought compensation for those affected in Tripura and the rebuilding of damaged mosques PTI via Morung Express.
12 November: rallies in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded
A bandh was observed in Muslim-majority areas of Mumbai, Mumbra and Bhiwandi PTI, and protests were peaceful in most of the state The Quint/IANS. Stone-pelting was also reported in Washim and Yavatmal.
Amravati. Officials told PTI that over 8,000 people gathered outside the district collector's office to submit a memorandum. As people left, stone-pelting took place at three places between Chitra Chowk and Cotton Market PTI. Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Makandar told The Indian Express the march had no permission and "around 35,000-odd people participated" Sabrang, quoting Indian Express. Other estimates ran from 25,000 to 50,000 Siasat National Herald.
Accounts of how the violence began differ. National Herald reported that on the way back "some miscreants pelted stones at them from the railway yard", after which some marchers "allegedly attacked business establishments nearby" Claim · National Herald report National Herald. DCP Makandar said "some anti-social elements resorted to stone pelting on some shops and also attacked vehicles" Sabrang/IE. Stones were thrown at the house of local BJP leader Pravin Pote Siasat. Police Commissioner Arti Singh put the 12 November damage at not more than about Rs 5.15 lakh National Herald.
Malegaon. Stones were thrown during a march in Malegaon, Nashik district. Police used a lathi-charge, and at least ten police personnel, including three officers, were injured PTI. Malegaon police arrested NCP corporator Ayaz Hulchul in connection with the violence India TV/IANS.
Nanded. Eight police personnel were injured and four police vehicles damaged, police told PTI PTI. Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar Shewale told ANI that youths at a Raza Academy sit-in headed "towards mixed residential areas", were stopped by police and then threw stones ANI.
By 13 November police had registered at least 20 FIRs in five districts and arrested 20 people, including 10 each in Amravati and Malegaon PTI.
13 November: the bandh in Amravati
The BJP called an Amravati bandh for 13 November to protest the previous day's violence. A police official said activists of the BJP, Bajrang Dal, VHP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena gathered at Rajkamal Chowk and turned violent, burning shops The Quint/Indian Express. An official put the number of BJP and affiliated cadres enforcing the shutdown at up to 6,000 The Wire.
According to police quoted by The Indian Express, two shops owned by Muslims and three two-wheelers were burnt, other shops damaged and two dargahs damaged Siasat/IE. National Herald reported that stones thrown at a temple allegedly injured a priest, and that nine policemen, including an officer, and four civilians were injured that day National Herald. Clashes between the two communities continued into the night The Quint.
Almost all the victims are from the minority community. It appears that the violence had been planned a day in advance in retaliation for the violence on Friday by some members of the minority community.
Police official, to The Indian Express, as quoted by The Quint, 16 Nov 2021
The curfew and the internet shutdown
In-charge Police Commissioner Sandip Patil issued orders under Section 144(1), (2) and (3) of the CrPC on 13 November. Except for medical emergencies, nobody could leave home India TV/IANS. Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said on 14 November: "The curfew has been imposed for four days, it has also been ordered to shut the internet services so that rumours are not spread" The Quint/ANI.
The SFLC.in tracker records a preventive 72-hour shutdown on mobile and broadband networks SFLC.in. Curbs continued after that: on 16 November internet was available for only half an hour Sabrang. National Herald reported that banks were paralysed until 17 November and that the curfew and shutdown were extended to 22 November National Herald.
On 14 November the curfew was widened to Morshi, Warud, Achalpur and Anjangaon Surji towns PTI via The News Minute. Relaxations followed: two hours on 16 November, then six hours (11 am to 5 pm) from 18 November Sabrang National Herald.
Timeline
Rallies turn violent
Stone-pelting in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded. Walse Patil makes a late-night video appeal for calm The Quint/IANS.
Bandh violence, curfew
Curfew ordered and internet cut after violence spreads from Rajkamal Chowk National Herald.
BJP leaders arrested, bailed
Bonde and others arrested on 15 November; Pote and 14 others surrender on 17 November. All get bail National Herald.
Arrests
PTI reported 50 by 14 November, and The Wire 72, with 26 FIRs, on 15 November PTI via TNM The Wire. A police official told The Indian Express that 188 had been arrested: "91 have been arrested from both communities" for 12 November and "97 for Saturday's violence from both communities" Sabrang/IE. ADG Rajendra Singh gave the same total of 188 across 35 cases The Quint. National Herald reported about 14,000 booked and over 200 arrested by 19 November National Herald.
On 15 November police arrested former agriculture minister Anil Bonde, Mayor Chetan Gawande, Nivedita Chaudhari and house leader Tushar Bharatiya, among others ANI. A senior official said Bonde and Pote were "the key people among those who called for a bandh" The Wire. A local court bailed Bonde and 13 others on a surety of Rs 15,000 each, saying custodial interrogation was not required Republic.
In the state Assembly in December 2021, Walse Patil said a total of 686 people had been arrested, and that Raza Academy was not directly involved in the Amravati violence, while Jamiat and Bhim Army were involved in the bandh Government's position Muslim Mirror. We could not find a second report of these figures.
Both accounts
MVA government's account
Walse Patil appealed: "I appeal to all Hindus and Muslims to maintain peace... The guilty will not be spared" Sabrang. He said the state would "investigate the rallies that were taken out in Maharashtra over the incidents that may or may not have taken place in Tripura" The Quint.
NCP minister Nawab Malik alleged that BJP leaders, naming Bonde, plotted the riots to destabilise the government, and that money and alcohol were distributed Claim · Nawab Malik. "Police investigation has revealed the BJP's plot," he said Free Press Journal. He also released a photo of BJP MLA Ashish Shelar with Raza Academy leaders; Shelar said it was from 2016-17 and unrelated ANI. NCP chief Sharad Pawar called the violence "unfortunate" and said traders should be compensated The Quint.
BJP's account
On 13 November Devendra Fadnavis said: "It appears to be a well-planned conspiracy as Hindu shops were set ablaze in Amravati. Even more serious is the manner in which MVA ministers are making provocative statements" Claim · Fadnavis India TV/IANS.
On 21 November he said the 12 November march "was based on false information", called the 13 November events "a reaction", and called police action against the BJP and Hindu groups "one-sided". He dared MVA leaders who called Raza Academy a BJP-backed group to ban it Deccan Herald/PTI. Bonde called the BJP bandh peaceful and blamed Raza Academy Claim · Anil Bonde Republic.
The VHP demanded a ban on Raza Academy; Congress leader Tarique Anwar said the Bajrang Dal and VHP should be banned too EastMojo/PTI. Raza Academy founder Mohammed Saeed Noori, in a video statement, did not address the violence Sabrang.
Were the Tripura reports accurate?
This is contested Contested. Tripura police said on Twitter, as reported on 28 October, that during the Panisagar rally "no masjid (mosque) was burnt and the picture being shared of a burning or damaged masjid or collection of sticks, etc., are all fake news" EastMojo/PTI. The same report quoted the district SP as saying a mosque had been vandalised at Chamtilla. On 13 November the Union Home Ministry said there was "no reported case of damage of the structure of any mosque in Tripura in the recent past", and that violence in Maharashtra was "based on fake news regarding Tripura" Government's position Tribune/PTI.
Newslaundry reported on 18 November that two police FIRs described October fires at a mosque in Kakraban and at the Panisagar Jama Masjid, and that police now called the Kakraban structure a "prayer hall". A senior Tripura officer told it the FIR text reflected the complainant's words, not a police finding Newslaundry.
Outcome and where things stand
- Trial: On 24 November 2025, Judge Nardele's court in Amravati acquitted all 30 accused in 15 FIRs from City Kotwali police station covering both days, finding the charges not proved beyond doubt Navbharat Live. We found no report of an appeal.
- Other cases: We found no published outcome by October 2026 for the cases against Bonde and other BJP leaders, or for the Malegaon and Nanded cases.
Questions people ask
What happened in Amravati in November 2021?
A rally on 12 November ended in stone-pelting, and a BJP-called bandh the next day turned violent. Police imposed a curfew and cut internet services.
Was Anil Bonde arrested?
Yes. The former agriculture minister was arrested on 15 November 2021 with other BJP leaders in connection with the 13 November violence, and a local court granted bail the same day.
Did mosques really burn in Tripura?
This is disputed. The Union Home Ministry and Tripura police called the reports fake; Newslaundry cited two FIRs describing fires at mosques.
What happened to the court cases?
In November 2025 an Amravati sessions court acquitted all 30 accused in 15 FIRs from City Kotwali police station. We found no published outcome for the other cases.
Sources
- PTI via Morung Express: Maha: 20 FIRs registered, 20 held over protests against Tripura violence, 13 Nov 2021
- Sabrang: Violence erupts in Maharashtra after bandh call by Raza Academy, 13 Nov 2021
- National Herald: Night curfew extended in Amravati till Monday as police grope for answers, 19 Nov 2021
- Siasat: Amravati: BJP leader Anil Bonde arrested for inciting violence, 15 Nov 2021
- India TV/IANS: NCP corporator Ayaz Hulchul arrested by Malegaon police, 14 Nov 2021
- ANI: Maharashtra: BJP blames Raza Academy for violence in Amaravati, other parts, 15 Nov 2021
- The Quint: Former Maharashtra Minister Anil Bonde among 70 arrested for Amravati violence, 16 Nov 2021
- The Wire: Senior BJP leader Anil Bonde among 72 arrested for inciting violence in Amravati, 15 Nov 2021
- The Quint: 'Everything is reduced to ashes': Amravati shop owners speak on violence, 22 Nov 2021
- The Quint: Internet shut, 4-day curfew in Maharashtra's Amravati amid fresh violence, 14 Nov 2021
- SFLC.in: Internet shutdowns tracker, Amravati 2021, accessed 12 Oct 2026
- Sabrang: Amravati violence: more BJP leaders arrested, 17 Nov 2021
- PTI via The News Minute: Curfew in Maharashtra's Amravati expanded, police beef up security, 15 Nov 2021
- Tribune/PTI: No mosque damaged, no rape, death in Tripura; fake news circulating on social media: MHA, 13 Nov 2021
- Republic: BJP leader Anil Bonde and 13 others granted bail, 15 Nov 2021
- Navbharat Live (Hindi): Amravati 2021 riots case: court acquits all 30 accused, 25 Nov 2025
- Muslim Mirror: Raza Academy was not involved in Amravati violence: Maha home minister, 29 Dec 2021
- Free Press Journal: Amravati riots: ex-BJP minister Anil Bonde among 14 arrested, 15 Nov 2021
- The Quint: Communal sentiments raked for poll benefits: Sharad Pawar on Amravati riots, 18 Nov 2021
- Deccan Herald/PTI: Fadnavis calls Amravati violence conspiracy, 21 Nov 2021
- EastMojo/PTI: VHP seeks ban on Raza Academy; Cong leader says ban Bajrang Dal as well, 15 Nov 2021
- EastMojo/PTI: Tripura police now say no mosque burnt by VHP supporters, 28 Oct 2021
- Newslaundry: A mosque was torched in Tripura, but cops say just a prayer hall, 18 Nov 2021