Tension marks Surat election

SURAT, Sept 5: A flare-up in the Saiyyedpura area of the city in the afternoon, stone-throwing in Varachha and tension over a BJP worker'...

SURAT, Sept 5: A flare-up in the Saiyyedpura area of the city in the afternoon, stone-throwing in Varachha and tension over a BJP worker8217;s arrest in Katargam disrupted a peaceful, if unenthusiastic, day of polling in Surat on Sunday.

Trouble began in the predominantly Muslim locality of Tuwaara Mohalla of Saiyyedpura around 2 pm when youths of two adjacent buildings, with polling booths on either side, started pelting each other with stones. It intensified when a mob of 100 youths allegedly from the nearby Harijan Vaas arrived on the scene, armed with sticks, pipes and bottles and smashed a car and pelted nearby buildings with stones.

It was almost 45 minutes later that the police intervened to end the violence, local residents said, by which time two persons 8212; both members of the minority community 8212; had been injured. Five people were arrested for rioting.

While polling was not affected in the area, Deputy Commissioner of Police K K Ojha also ruled out any communal angle to the violence. In another incident around noon, youths allegedly loyal to the BJP pelted stones at shops and diamond units in the Matawadi area of Varachha Road, forcing them to close down. Though the police arrived on the scene promptly, the miscreants fled and no arrests were made.

The youths were reportedly upset by the low turnout in Varachha 8212; supposed to be a stronghold of the BJP 8212; and were attempting to get people to the polling booths.

Later in the day, around 5 pm, hundreds of agitated people surrounded the Katargam police station after a BJP polling agent was arrested, and allegedly beaten up, by the Katargam police.

Matters took a turn for the worse when the Border Security Force was asked to 8220;take care of the mob8221;. There was a slight stampede as BSF personnel pointed their guns at the mob.

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Sources said it all began when Katargam PI P P Pradhan arrested Suresh Tapu Senjaliya Patel for using his cellular phone outside a polling booth, a violation of the model code. Senjaliya was allegedly beaten up, and then escorted to the police station, where the beatings continued.

The party worker has since been admitted to hospital with serious internal injuries.

Police Commissioner Kuldip Sharma, who visited the spot, assured the mob of action against those found guilty.