Communal violence erupted in at least three Gujarat districts, Himmatnagar, Khambhat and Dwarka, on Sunday during and after Ram Navami processions. Heavy stone pelting in Khambhat left one dead due to head injuries, and three cops were injured in stone pelting in Himmatnagar.
Late in the evening, a saffron flag, which was left behind after a Ram Navami procession passed through Muslim dominated area, was burnt by miscreants which resulted in tension in the coastal city of Dwarka. One person was apprehended by Dwarka police for burning the flag.
Violence was also witnessed in Himmatnagar on the day. Police officers said at about 1 pm, during a rally by the VHP which was passing through the Muslim-dominated Chhaparia locality of the city, the rioters pelted stones on the rally. While the police tried to drive away people who were pelting stones from rooftops on both sides of the procession, many of them escaped by jumping from terraces.
Additional police forces were rushed from nearby districts of Ahmedabad, Anand, Aravalli and Mehsana. Two IG level officers and five SPs are currently camping in Himmatnagar, where section 144 has been imposed.
Violence erupts in MP
Communal violence also erupted in at least two districts of Madhya Pradesh during the Ram Navami celebrations. The first incident of violence was reported in Khargone district, where nearly half-a-dozen police personnel were injured while a similar incident occurred in Sendhwa town of Barwani district.
In Khargone, stones were hurled at a Ram Navami procession, triggering incidents of arson wherein some vehicles were set on fire, prompting authorities to clamp curfew in three areas and section 144 of CrPC in the entire city. Police fired tear gas shells to control the situation.
