According to reports, several people were injured including four police personnel in a communal conflict Friday night in Borsad town in the Anand district of Gujarat. An attack on a person in the Hanuman mandir — Ahmed shah party plot area sparked the unrest.
Four police personnel were injured in a clash that broke out in #Gujarat‘s Borsad town following rumours that a group of minority community members were cornered. pic.twitter.com/VZrfmDAVon
— IANS (@ians_india) June 12, 2022
During the ruckus, CCTV cameras near a Jain temple were also broken. Police have apprehended 14 suspects. Stone pelting began at about 1 AM and lasted for two hours in the Brahmanwada region.
Police used tear gas cells to disperse the crowd and the situation was eventually brought under control. Meanwhile, two companies of the State Reserve Police Force and 200 police officers have been deployed, commanded by District Superintendent of Police Ajit Raijan.
According to Dipak Patel, head of the BJP Borsad committee, the violence occurred as police sought to stop illegal construction on local municipality land near a Hanuman temple. A dargah is next to the municipality-owned open space behind the temple. Patel said that the minority community group had commenced construction on municipal property, which had been brought to the authorities’ attention.
He claimed that when the cops commanded them to stop, the mob attacked them. The incident subsequently evolved into a group confrontation between two communities, according to Patel, and spread to other areas such as Brahmawada, Gandhi Pol, Chokshi Pol, and two other localities. According to police, 50 tear gas rounds and 30 rubber bullets were shot to pacify the aggressive rioters.
IANS quoted Ahmedabad Range Inspector General V. Chandrasekhar as saying, “Rumours were making rounds that a group of the minority community in Borsad was cornered, because of which large group of the community took to the streets and started pelting stones on police and police vehicles.” Police have detained a few people, and their involvement in the violence is being investigated, according to Chandrasekhar.
