AHMEDABAD, Aug 26: Army was called in today to help control widespread violence sparked by quota agitation by Patel community in Gujarat which has claimed seven lives even as curfew was clamped in several areas.
Flag marches were held in the city this evening by the Army amid reports of sporadic violence in some parts of the State.
The violence which started yesterday after a massive rally of the Patel community has claimed seven lives in the State, police said.
Notwithstanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for peace, protesters resorted to arson, stone-pelting and attacks on public and private properties. The bandh call given by Patel leaders brought the city to a grinding halt.
Curfew has been clamped in Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Mehasana, Patan, Palanpur, Unjha, Visnagar and Jamnagar towns.
“Five companies of Army were called in Ahmedabad city to control law and order situation as the violence escalated,” Ahmedabad district collector Rajkumar Beniwal said.
The Army conducted flag-march in five areas in the city which had witnessed incidents of violence, he added.
Apart from Ahmedabad, two companies of Army were deployed in Surat and another two in Mehasana. About 5,000 paramilitary personnel have also been to brought to Gujarat.
Six people were killed in firing by police and para-military forces, while one died of head injuries during clashes which started last night, police said. Three deaths were reported in Ahmedabad, three in Gadh village of Banaskantha district and one in Mehasana town.
Earlier in the day, in a televised address in Gujarati, the Prime Minister appealed for peace and emphasised that all the issues can be resolved through talks.
“I appeal to all brothers and sisters of Gujarat that they should not resort to violence. The only `Mantra’ must be `Shanti’ (peace),” said Modi.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel this morning and assured her full support of the Centre to tackle the situation.
Meanwhile, Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti who is spearheading the agitation, blamed police for the violence and said the agitation will intensify in the coming days.
Denying that the protesters started the violence, he accused the police of trying to “disrupt” the movement at the behest of political establishment.
Schools, colleges, shops, banks remained closed in most places in view of the bandh call given by Hardik after his brief detention last night. Public transport and rail traffic was also affected. Police said gitators uprooted railway tracks in at least eight places in the State.
A man was killed in firing on a mob which was pelting stones at Modhera crossroad on the outskirts of Mehsana town in north Gujarat this afternoon.
“23 rounds were fired. A man called Nilesh Patel died,” said B Division police station officer Ratansinh.
Three persons were killed in police firing on a mob which tried to torch a police station at Gadh village near Palanpur.
“At around 1 pm, the mob stormed the police station and tried to torch it. In defence, police fired some rounds, which killed three persons. Curfew has been imposed in Palanpur,” said Banaskantha district collector Dilip Rana.
In Ahmedabad, two persons were killed in police firing in Vastral area, while a body was found in Ghatlodia. “Girish Patel (47) and his son Siddharth Patel (20) were killed in police firing late last night. The incident took place when a mob tried to snatch weapons from the police. These two tried to snatch a rifle of a policemen and during the scuffle it went off,” said the police spokesperson N D Trivedi.
In Ghatlodia, police recovered the body of a man who died due to severe head injury. He is believed to have been beaten up in the clash last night, police said.
Arson and stone-pelting were reported in many parts of Surat city today as protesters tried to enforce the bandh.
Chief Minister Anandiben Patel appealed for peace earlier in the day. “At least 53 companies of paramilitary forces have been called and after sometime we will also deploy Army in various parts of state,” she said in a video message. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel