Kodianar town, witness to two communal clashes in September, was tense again today after a Hindu tailor’s shop, located in a building that also houses a madarsa, was gutted on Wednesday morning.The VHP blamed the minority community for the fire and called a bandh.Kodinar DSP M.K. Sharma said while tailor Purshottam Chavda has accused some members of the minority community of looting his shop and setting it on fire, Muslims in the neighbourhood said a short circuit had sparked the fire.Bhikumiya Kadri, chairman of Madarsa Building that housed the gutted shop was the first to inform the police of the fire. Chavda’s complaint came after the watchman of a nearby building said he had seen seven people running away with goods from Chavda’s shop around 4 am. On September 1, a clash erupted over Ganesh Chaturthi processions. This was followed by rioting and arson on September 21 in which 26 shops of minority community members were looted.
