An electrical apprentice from Bhuj took objection to comments made by a businessman from Mandvi taluka of Kutch sparking violence in Bhuj on Sunday. Taufil Theba, a 26-year-old electrician who recently completed his apprenticeship with a state power distribution comapny, received screen shots of comments made by Bhavesh Gadhvi, a 30-year-old law graduate from Mandvi who is associated with salt production, on his WhatsApp messenger. Theba took objection to the comments made by Gadhvi about his community and faith and filed a complaint with B-Division police station in Bhuj on Saturday evening. The police acted swiftly and arrested Gadhvi on Sunday and brought him to B Division police station in Sarpat Naka, an area dominated by the community to which the complainant belongs. A crowd gathered there demanding Gadhvi be handed over to them leading to clashes with police. Police refused to grant the demand saying it was illegal. Leaders of the community from the town urged the crowd to disperse saying that their demand was illegal but the mob got bigger and started pelting stones at the station building around 7 pm. In the ensuing violence,three persons were hit by police bullets, when they opened fire to control the mob Nine policemen were also seriously injured in the violence, police said. Authorities claimed the two communities had sorted out the matter on Monday. “Leaders from both communities said the tension has subsided as those who indulged in violence were miscreants who did not even heed the appeal by their community leaders. It was just a matter raised against a comment on a social networking site and the leaders agreed police were taking action against guilty. They appealed the public to maintain peace,” resident additional collector DB Shah said after chairing a meeting of local peace committee on Monday. The meeting was attended by leaders of both communities, Minister of State for Cottage Industries, Tarachand Chheda, local MP and MLA. The additional collector said that all the injured, including the three hit by police bullets and the nine policemen hit by stones were out of danger. Meanwhile, police were to produce Gadhvi in a court later in the evening under heavy security cover even as uneasy calm prevailed in the town.
