AHMEDABAD: Uneasy calm prevailed in Himmat Nagar and Khambhat towns of Gujarat on Monday following the communal clashes during Ram Navami processions on the previous day.
One person was killed and another was critically injured in the clashes on Sunday.
The police had to fire teargas shells to disperse the mobs which went on rampage in the town. The funeral of the deceased was held on Monday amid heavy police presence.
Family members said the victim had gone out for worship but they didn’t know it would have cost them so dearly.
District police officials said the funeral of the deceased was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
Cases have been registered for rioting and murder, and nine persons have been detained in connection with the incident, said the police.
Anand MP Mitesh Patel visited Khambhat town on Monday and said the police would take all legal action against the rioters.
“People who disturb the peace of Gujarat will not be spared,” he said.
Meanwhile, Himmatnagar Police registered cases of rioting and criminal conspiracy over the violence on Sunday. Based on three separate complaints, the police have booked as many as 700 people in A and B divisions in the city.
The stone-throwing incidents on Sunday damaged properties in Ashrafnagar town, Imamwada and Vanzara localities in the town. Several police officials, including the SP, were also injured after stones were thrown on them. Section 144 has been clamped in the city.
Himmatnagar DCP Vishal Vaghela said multiple FIRs have been registered. “Multiple FIRs have been registered. We are currently working to bring peace in the city,” he said.
Sabarkantha MP Deepsinh Rathore alleged the violence was “pre-planned”.
He alleged that stones and weapons were hidden in some houses.
“We will not tolerate any stone falling on Rambhaktas (devotees of Ram),” he said.