AHMEDABAD: An altercation between local residents and a group of students snowballed into arson and stone-pelting near Mehnatpura in the Ambawadi area late on Monday night. The clash was sparked by the alleged molestation of a local girl.
About 15 motorcycles were torched and police lobbed 20 teargas shells to disperse the crowd after heavy stone-pelting was witnesses.
By Tuesday night,
Ellisbridge police had filed three FIRs — one each from the local residents, hostel students and police. No arrests were made but several suspects were detained. According to the FIR filed by
Dashrathsinh Jadeja, the administrator of
Shri Nayanaba Mahendrasinh Jadeja IAS/
IPS Training Centre Hostel, located near
Vandana School on Bhudarpura Road, he got a call at 9.30pm on Monday saying that a group of people had entered the premises. There were about 20 students inside the hostel. On reaching the spot, he found the premises ransacked and computers, books and furniture were damaged.
“Jadeja said that three persons approached hostel inmates, of whom two were allegedly drunk. They asked why the inmates were keeping their lights on till late and used abusive language. The trio was sent way after which a larger crowd arrived. Two hostel inmates suffered injuries and 13 parked motorcycles were set on fire,” said an official.
According to the FIR by P D Parmar, a sub-inspector with Ellisbridge police station, city police control room received a message at 10.18pm about a large group gathering outside the hostel. When police arrived, they a group of about 200 people were pelting stones and setting things on fire. The group was targeting the hostel and was throwing inmates’ belongings out of the windows.
Police then fired teargas shells to disperse the crowd. The crowd allegedly targeted police vehicles and Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) vehicles. According to the complaint, at least three policemen, a Home Guards jawan and a fire brigade jawan were injured in the stone-pelting.
In the FIR filed by
Anuben Pardhi, 38, a resident of Leelaben ni Chali, Mehnatpura, she was at home at about 11.30pm when she heard a commotion outside. She soon smelled teargas billowing into her house and she and her husband went to close the door. At about 11.45pm, a group of about 20 persons — consisting of ‘boys wearing shorts’ who were from the hostel — tried to break down their door and managed to gain entry.
“According to the complaint, she was allegedly molested by the group and they dragged her husband and son out of the house and beat them up. She also suffered injuries in the incident. Her neighbour was also beaten up. When she went to VS Hospital, she learned that about 19 others had also been beaten up by the mob,” said an Ellisbridge police official.
Locals demand shifting of hostel, SRP deployed
A crowd of over 200 persons gathered outside Ellisbridge police station on Tuesday morning, demanding justice for the victims of the Monday night’s violence and the closure of the hostel, run by the Akhil Gujarat Rajput Yuva Sangh, in the area. Those who gathered at the police station alleged that the teasing of a woman had triggered the incident. Only after police filed an FIR did the crowd disperse. The protests affected traffic on Ashram Road for about two hours. State Reserve Police (SRP) jawans were deployed at the spot. Police were on alert on Tuesday night, to prevent any further untoward incident. Sources said a rally organized by a particular community on Wednesday also has city police on their toes.
R J ‘All is well’ Pargi faces two major protests in two days
DCP Zone VII R J Pargi maintained on Monday that all was well and nothing significant had happened. After Ellisbridge police station was closed off by protester, FIRs were filed after the intervention of in-charge CP K L N Rao. Police were criticized for using force on those not involved in the violence early on Tuesday morning, during a search of the locality. The DCP faced his second protest in two days. On Monday, a group of 200 shop owners from Anandnagar made a representation about anti-social elements. He maintained that all was well even as the FIR was filed on Monday evening. He was the superintendent of Ahmedabad Central Jail in 2013 when the infamous jailbreak attempt had taken place.
