Cops open fire after Gujarat sectarian clash, 48 hurt

Simmering tension between the Deobandis and the Barelvis, two Muslim groups...

Simmering tension between the Deobandis and the Barelvis, two Muslim groups, flared up into a full fledged riot on Friday afternoon following a petty quarrel between two boys of the town.

Rioters from both groups threw stones and attacked rival houses and businesses. Four houses were ransacked and portion of a madarsa caught fire after a vehicle was set ablaze near it.

Police said they fired seven rounds and used 34 shells of teargas to disperse the rioters. As many as 121 of them were arrested on charges of rioting and arson. The melee left 48 persons injured, among them six policemen, including two deputy superintendents of police.

DySP P.C. Baranda was injured in his ankle by a bullet from his own revolver, which went off when he fell while he was tackling the irate mob. Senior officers said a ballistic test would be conducted to confirm if he was indeed injured from his own gun.

None one was injured in police firing, police said. Six of those seriously wounded in the rioting are being treated at the Godhra

Civil Hospital. Witnesses said trouble started about 1.20 pm, after two boys,

one from the Ghanchi community, which subscribes to the Deoband school of thought, and another from the Sheikh community, followers of the Barelvi school, had an altercation.

Story continues below this ad

Bibi Yaqub, whose house was ransacked, said all of a sudden dozens of boys from the Madrasa-e-Talimul Islam of the Barelvi sect started stoning Ghanchi houses. Afterwards a mob attacked their houses, she said. 8216;8216;Our men were all away. We could do little,8217;8217; she said, standing outside her ransacked house. The streets facing the Jama Masjid of the Barelvis in Kasba Mohallah was littered with stones. Some said the violence was planned and that the rioters brought the brickbats on handcarts.

Police officers said tension had been building up between the two ideologically opposed sects since Wednesday, when Muslims celebrated Eid-e-Milad, the prophet8217;s birth anniversary. 8216;8216;Since that day, leaders of the two sects have been condemning each other8217;s beliefs in their speeches,8217;8217; he said.