Patel quota stir: Gujarat limps back to normalcy

Normalcy is gradually returning to Gujarat where authorities today lifted curfew from all affected parts of the state as no major incident of violence was reported for two days after the Patel quota agitation turned violent early this week.

“As no violence was reported in the state, curfew has been lifted from all the parts of the state, where it was clamped on August 25,” Additional Director General of Police (law and order), P P Pandey told PTI.

In Ahmedabad city, curfew has been lifted from all the nine police station areas as the situation remained completely peaceful for around two days, officials said.

However, heavy deployment of para-military forces continued in all the areas hit by violence that had began from August 25 after the leader of the quota agitation, Hardik Patel was detained by the city police.

Ahmedabad District Collector Rajkumar Beniwal said five companies of Army which were called in to control violence will be sent back by the evening today.

“By today evening, we will send back the Army from the region. Now it is not required,” Beniwal told PTI.

“Curfew has been lifted from six police stations areas here including Nikol, Bapunagar, Naroda, Odhav, Krushnanagar and Ramol today,” the city control room officer, A K Desai said.

This decision was taken by Commissioner of Police in the city, Shivanand Jha after no big incident of violence was reported in the city for around two days, said Desai.