Scare in Gujarat as bomb goes off in Godhra bus, clash the night before

A bomb blast in Godhra on Dussehra day, preceded by communal clashes in Jhalod town the previous night, kept Gujarat on the edge. A bomb exp...

A bomb blast in Godhra on Dussehra day, preceded by communal clashes in Jhalod town the previous night, kept Gujarat on the edge. A bomb exploded in a stationary bus at Godhra ST Bus Stand this evening, injuring six persons and spreading panic all around. The explosion, said to have been triggered by a timed device, was powerful enough to uproot two rows of seats in the rear portion of the bus.

The incident occurred at 5.45 p.m., when most of the passengers had alighted from the bus which rolled into Godhra from Adadara village in Kalol taluka. ‘‘The scale of damage would have been much more had the explosion occurred when the passengers were still inside,’’ Superintendent of Police (Panchmahals district) Narasimha Komar told The Indian Express.

Four passengers were injured—one of them seriously—along with the bus conductor and driver. ‘‘Considering the potential of the bomb, damage and injuries caused to passengers were relatively less,’’ Komar said. While no clues have been unearthed yet, forensic experts have visited the site.

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This is the second major blast incident in Panchmahals district in last two months after a motorbike explosion in Delol and Melol villages left several injured.

Separately, 28 persons were arrested after members of two communities clashed in Jhalod town in Dahod district on Monday night. Those arrested include Mahendra Mangalbhai Dindo, son of a Congress leader, Tejas Ishwar Soni, Ramesh Babu Patel and Nilesh Rajnikant Patel, reported to be BJP MP Babubhai Katara’s close supporters and Katara’s driver’s son Mitesh Ratibhai Katara.

A policeman, Laxman Narjibhai, was injured when the mobs started pelting stones, while local resident Hamid Abdul Salam was reportedly injured by a bullet fired from a private weapon.

Two houses were reportedly torched, a shop looted and two tempos damaged in the violence. A place of worship was also partially damaged in arson.

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Special IGP (Vadodara Range) Deepak Swaroop said the group clashes began after a fight between a butcher, Arif Abdul Sattar Tol, and a local resident, Prakash Kumar Damor, around 7.30 p.m. The two had an argument after Damor insisted that he be given better quality meat. Tol reportedly threatened Damor with his knife and chased him out of his shop.

A case under Section 504 and 506 of IPC was registered against Tol, who was later arrested at around 8 p.m. This angered the minority community members, a spokesperson of the Jhalod Police Station said.

The police said the trio from Chandigarh — Rohan (21), Sumit (22), and Mohit (19) — were dhol players by profession and had procured the weapons due to an old rivalry with local residents.

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