Ahmedabad, May 28: The communal violence which began on Monday in the Nagorivaad area of Ahmedabad’s Shahpur locality has spread to several other communally-sensitive parts of the city. On Wednesday, four more people were stabbed, two motorbikes were burnt and an AMTS bus and a private car were vandalised by rioters. The violence-torn areas are very tense. Police have intensified patrolling in the affected areas but their presence seems to be having no impact on the rioters.
The violence on Wednesday began immediately after the funeral of Vijay Datania who was assaulted and seriously injured by unidentified assailants in Nagorivaad area on Tuesday afternoon. “My father was stabbed and his chest was crushed with big stones,” Jay Datania, son of the deceased, Vijay Datania, told. “Acid was also poured on his body.”
The rioters on Tuesday had dropped 52-year-old Vijay Datania at his residence after beating him up. He was then admitted to the VS Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday morning. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Violence erupted once again after Vijay Datania’s funeral at around 1 in the afternoon. Two stabbing incidents were reported immediately after the funeral. A senior citizen, Mohammad Shaikh, and another person, were stabbed near RC High School in Delhi Darwaja area.
In another incident, Rajnibhai and a part-time employee of the CBI court in the city were stabbed near St Xavier’s school in Mirzapur. A press photographer, who had taken photographs of the incident, was assaulted and his camera broken by an angry mob.
Soon after the violence, shops, offices and other commercial establishments in Shahpur, Mirzapur, Relief Road and Delhi Darwaja downed their shutters. All these areas wore a deserted look as people rushed to their homes for safety. Extra police personnel have been deployed in the affected areas to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
Eyewitnesses of Wednesday’s stabbing incident near St Xavier’s school in Mirzapur said the two people who were stabbed were going home on a two-wheeler when they were assaulted by some people with a sharp weapon. But the two miraculously managed to free themselves from their assailants and rushed to the court compound some 500 metres away. Some onlookers, meanwhile, had called the emergency services who arrived shifted them to a nearby hospital. The eyewitnesses said the two people worked at the special CBI court.
The first of the recent series of communal clashes started in Shahpur on Monday when there was sporadic violence in the area after a scuffle during a marriage procession. The violence continued on Tuesday when Vijay Datania was assaulted, and members of two communities pelted stones, glass bottles and burning rags at each other.
-Agencies