Ahmedabad, Nov 14 (PTI) Panic gripped Muslim families insome pockets of a Hindu-dominated area here after they foundred "cross marks" on the main gates of their societies onSunday morning.
An investigation, however, revealed that the marks werepainted by the civic body's sanitation staff.
The city police swung into action after residents of onesuch society in Paldi area here wrote a letter yesterday tothe Election Commission and the city's police commissioner,urging them to inquire the matter.
The residents wrote in the letter that they feared it(putting the marks) was done with a "clear purpose to identifyMuslims living in that area" ahead of the assembly polls inGujarat next month.
However, the police said the marks were put up toidentify the societies which would be covered under the civicbody's Global Positioning System-based waste collectionsystem.
"The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation staff visited thearea with us yesterday and informed the residents that it ispart of their garbage collection project," Paldi's policeinspector B S Rabari said.
"The cross marks would help the sanitation supervisors toidentify those societies which would be covered under theirGPS-based waste collection system. There is no reason forresidents to panic," he said.
After the probe, the police said, it learnt that suchcross marks in red colour were painted not only in Muslimsocieties but also on the gates of Hindu societies in Paldiarea for the implementation of the waste collection project bythe Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) staff.
However, the residents who wrote the letter to EC,alleged that such markings might be an attempt to disturb thepeace in the area ahead of the polls.
"Such activities of marking buildings of a particularcommunity and highlighting their religious identity before theelection is causing insecurity among the dwellers andincreases chances of communal clash which might destroy peaceof Paldi...take immediate action and investigate the reasons,"reads the letter penned by members of the society.
According to Uvesh Sareshwala, who lives in the building,there was fear and panic among Muslims when they found redmarks on the main gates.
"For now, the issue is resolved, as some policemen arealso deployed in our area after the incident. Our onlycontention was that the AMC should have informed us in advancethat they are doing it," he said.
"Due to such misunderstandings, miscreants get achance to disturb the peace. Our only concern was oursecurity, nothing else," Sareshwala added. PTI PJT PD NRB GKZMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.