Gujarat: 18 political, religious leaders booked for Khambhat riots

VADODARA/ ANAND: Khambhat police has booked 18 political and religious leaders, including members of right-wing Hindu Jagran Manch, were booked for illegally organizing a public gathering and delivering inciting speeches after the town was singed by communal riots for two days.
The 18 persons have been booked for violation of public notification issued by Anand district magistrate which prohibits gathering of four or more persons in a public place. They had organized a gathering attended by hundreds of people at Khambhat’s main Tower Bazaar area on Tuesday.
Khambhat police sub inspector M J Chaudhary has registered the offence against former BJP MLA Sanjay Patel, Khambhat BJP’s city unit president Pinakin Brahmbhatt, Yogesh Shah alias Saadi, Nanka Patel, Jayveer Jayraj Joshi, Nandkishore Brahmbhatt, Vishwanand Swami of Chhatardiwala Ashram, Hansa Shrigol from Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), Nadiad unit president of HJM Ketan Patel, Vadodara unit president of HJM Niraj Jain, Dharmendrasinh Rathod, Kalpesh Pandit, Ashok Khalasi.
Councillor Raju Rana, former councillor Mangoo Shah, Rita Rana, a resident of Gandhrak Wado Balram Pandit and a resident of Gavara area Parthiv Patel have also been booked for the offence.
Meanwhile, situation was slowly returning to normal in the town and no fresh violence was reported on Wednesday.
According to the complaint registered at Khambhat city police station, after the communal riots on Sunday, no public rally, public gathering or programme was granted permission in the town.
The complaint states that the leaders had called for bandh on Tuesday and a crowd of around 6,000 man and women had gathered at the Gavara tower area to attend the public gathering. FIR states that the leaders gave inciting speeches at the gathering. The cops had later stopped the leaders from delivering their speeches and asked the crowd to disperse, the complaint states.
In another FIR, three accused including one Viral Patel, Jignesh Chunara and Ishwar Macchi have been booked along with a on Tuesday afternoon. The town which has remained on the edge since Sunday’s flare up had witnessed a violence when a mob had set a house and a shop ablaze in Mochiwad.
The riots on Sunday had started from Akbarpura area when members of Muslim and Chunara community had resorted to heavy stone pelting. Later, the clash had spread to other areas of the town leaving as many as 13 persons injured while around 30 houses and shops were set ablaze by rioters who had also damaged over a dozen vehicles.