Vadodara communal clashes: Police arrest history-sheeter Garasiya

Several motorcyles burn after clashes between two different religious groups in Vadodara on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

The Vadodara Crime Branch has nabbed Ayub Hasanbhai Garasiya, a wanted accused in the recent communal clashes in the Fatehpura and Bhandwada area of Vadodara. The Parole and Furlough unit of the Crime Branch nabbed Garasiya from near Golden Chowkdi after receiving a tip off about his whereabouts late on Thursday night.

The old city area in Vadodara witnessed communal clashes on 25 Sept. 2014, Thursday. (Source: Express Photo By Bhupendra Rana )

Officials of the crime branch said Garasiya, a resident of Hathikhana, which saw major rioting after the communal clash on Thursday, is a history-sheeter and has been warned about being externed from the city. He has been on the run since his name featured in the list of wanted for at least three incidents of communal violence in the past.

Though the cops are not sure if Garasiya instigated mob violence in Thursday’s clash that resulted in much damage of private property, his presence near the city has alerted them.

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Cops say a combing operation is being carried out across the city to round up suspected persons who could “threaten the law and order in the city” during the festive nine days of Navaratri.

Meanwhile the Crime Branch will question Garasiya on Friday about his role in Thursday’s incident of rioting.