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Ahmedabad: Police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a mob after fresh violence broke out in Gujarat’s Himmatnagar on Monday night when two groups threw stones at each other.
“We have rounded up 10 people for the Monday night violence. When we reached the spot, the miscreants hurled stones at the police too,” said police superintendent Vishal Vaghela.
The violence was triggered hours after Rapid Action Force and police carried out a flag march in Himmatnagar following violence on Sunday during a Ram Navami procession.
Several people, including policemen, were injured in stone-pelting, which prompted authorities to ban gatherings of over four people.
“About 1,000 policemen are presently deployed at Himmatnagar. We have rounded up 30 people in connection with the incident. Based on CCTV footage and cell phone tracking, we are trying to get hold of the culprits,” said inspector general Abhay Chudasama, who has been camping in Himmatnagar since Sunday. He added they were also investigating if the violence was pre-planned.
A case has also been registered against 600 people for their role in Sunday’s violence. Police are also watching social media to prevent the spread of hate through fake videos.
About 170 kilometres away, thousands of people on Monday joined the last rites of a 65-year-old person, who succumbed to his injuries on Sunday night after being hit with a stone during a Ram Navami procession on Sunday in Khambhat.
Nine people, including some religious leaders, have been arrested in connection with the violence in Khambhat. In all, 39 people have been arrested for their alleged role in violence in Himmatnagar and Khambhat.
Mitesh Patel, the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament who visited Khambhat on Monday, said people behind the violence will not go unpunished while appealing for peace.
Shops and vehicles were set afire at the two places on Sunday as groups clashed and threw stones at each other. Police resorted to lathi-charge and tear gas shelling to disperse the mob.
“In the case of Himmatnagar, when the procession was passing through an area dominated by members of a different community, initially there was a verbal altercation that began with sloganeering. People from both sides were in big numbers and soon there was stone pelting from one end. The way the entire incident unfolded, one cannot rule out that it was pre-planned,” said a police officer.
BJP lawmaker Deepsinh Rathod claimed the Himmatnagar incident was pre-planned.
In a tweet, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi accused Hindutva mobs of provoking and participating in violence including in Khambhat and Himmatnagar with the blessing of police. Owaisi alleged Ram Navami processions were used to make hate speeches against Muslims across the country.
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