Two killed, 10 injured in communal violence in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, March 25

Two people were killed, one of them in police firing, and 10 others injured while around 50 houses were ransacked and set ablaze along with many vehicles following a communal clash in a village in Gujarat's Patan district on Saturday evening, police said.

Patan Superintendent of Police Ashwin Chauhan said a minor altercation between two students over some dispute while going for the high school examinations in Vadavali village soon assumed communal overtones and flared up into a major clash involving people from at least three surrounding villages.

Violent mobs first ransacked and then torched around 50 houses of a particular community. More than two-dozen vehicles parked in front of the houses were also burnt down.

Police from Patan and Mehsana rushed to the spot but with the situation threatening to spiral out of control, in-charge Director General of Police PP Pandey despatched Inspector General of Police, Gandhinagar to the riot-torn village to oversee matters. It also took more than 10 fire engines from Mehsana, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to douse the fire in the houses and vehicles set ablaze.

Police carried out a baton-charge and used teargas shells to disperse the mob but the violence continued, forcing them to open fire in which one youth was killed. At least 10 people sustained injuries in stone throwing between the two groups.

Gujarat is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. — IANS