Cricket ball lands in Gujarat temple: 3 killed, 37 hurt

Police fired 27 rounds at the mobs when teargas shells failed to disperse them.One person died on the spot while two others succumbed to injuries on their way to a hospital in Ahmedabad. They were identified as Zakir Allarakha, Zakir Yusuf Multani and Sharifbhai Shafi. Police said only one of the three died in police firing.

It all began when some Muslim boys, while playing cricket, sent the ball flying into an old temple in the Chand Fadi area. According to DIG (Ahmedabad range), A K Sharma, the ball hit a small idol in the Gangeshwar Mahadev temple.

Reconstructing the incident, Inspector Chattarsinh Chavda recalled: ‘‘Agitated Hindus at the temple began abusing the Muslim boys when they entered the temple to retrieve the ball. Soon more Muslims landed there. There was an argument and then stones were pelted. In all this, there was private firing (implying that someone in the crowd opened fire).’’

Police later arrested Purshottam Jadhav, a former Viramgam councillor, who’s alleged to have fired from his gun. Violence spread to Chand Fadi and Sheikhvaad where mobs looted shops and set goods ablaze. Unaware of her husband’s death, Zakir Allarakha’s wife, Wahida Begum, said: ‘‘The Hindus were waiting to attack us. Today, they made an issue of a small cricket match and attacked. They fired at my husband and other Muslim men.’’

Savitaben, the ex-councillor’s wife who was also injured, had her own version: ‘‘My husband has a licensed 12 bore and he used it to protect the Hindus of the area.’’

District collector Anita Karwal said the incident would be probed carefully. ‘‘We will have to look into the whole issue because even a small incident here can lead to a communal outbreak.’’ She spoke to elderly women of both communities and later told The Indian Express that the area had ‘‘always been communally sensitive’’ though there was no specific reason for it. DIG Sharma said Viramgam has had as many as 38 incidents, involving the two communities, in the last 12 months. In August, there was trouble in the town over disposal of carcasses. He said ever since Godhra, the divide here has deepened and ‘‘they look for a reason to have a brawl.’’