To check group clashes,cops tighten noose on miscreants

At least 10 people have been arrested so far during the crackdown on liquor and gambling dens. Special patrolling vans have been deployed in busy and crowded areas of the city,including Race Course Ring Road,Kalawad Road and Dharmendra Road.

The main cause of worry for the people and the police is that these violent incidents are forming a pattern. All these incidents broke out due to personal rivalry,and later took the form of clashes between communities.

Last Friday,a heated exchange between an allegedly drunk man and a food vendor at Bhilwas turned into a violent clash between two communities. Several vehicles were set ablaze and rival groups took to stone pelting. The police had to resort to lathi charge and use teargas shells to bring the situation under control. Similar clashes were reported from some areas on the Morbi Road,including Gandhi Vasahat and Khatki Vaas,on April 14,on the occasion of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. The clashes broke out after a statue of Ambedkar was found vandalised in Gandhi Vasahat area. Mobs armed with sharp weapons came out and blocked the Morbi-Rajkot highway for over three hours. The violence later spread to other parts of the city and several vehicles were damaged.

Earlier,on the occasion of Dhuleti in March,a skirmish between two persons snowballed into a violent clash between two mobs of different communities.

Shashidhar said: “The clashes are not communal,but between communities. There is a wrong notion that the police or judiciary cannot deliver justice,and in the recent incidents,we have seen people taking law into their own hands. The combing operation has been launched to maintain the fear of police among the wrongdoers.”

Meanwhile,local Congress and BJP leaders held a joint public meeting with the residents of Bhilwas on Tuesday to maintain social harmony. At Gandhi Vasahat,where they took out a peace march,eight people surrendered before the police.