Guj: 1 critically hurt in communal clash; cops fire tear gas

Three persons were injured, one of them critically, during a clash between two communities in Savarkundla town in Amreli district of Gujarat today, police said.
The flare-up occurred after a mob thrashed a 24-year-old man accusing him of raping a minor girl from another community.
"A group of people attacked the man for allegedly raping a minor girl. Two of his friends were also thrashed. Soon, people from two communities gathered and hurled stones at each other. However, police quickly brought the situation under control," said Amreli Superintendent of Police Jagdish Patel.
The officer said that the police fired two teargas shells to disperse the mob after they refused to leave the spot.

"The situation is under control now and we have called a peace meeting between members of two communities. A large numner of police personnel are deployed in the town to avert any flare up," Patel said.
Police have booked one Zakir Bhatti (24) for allegedly raping the girl, he said.

He said that three persons who were thrashed by the mob were admitted in Amreli civil hospital, where condition of one of them is stated to be critical.
"We have deployed police personnel at sensitive spots in the town, which has a mixed population. We are not letting people to form groups so as to avoid any clash between two communities," Patel said.

The incident came close on the heels of the communal violence at Vadavali village in Patan district which left one dead and six injured severly, following a minor fight between two students of different communities on Saturday over a petty issue.
Police had arrested 13 people in connection with the Vadavali clash.