RAJKOT: A mob in Gujarat's Rajkot vandalised a police PCR van and three shops on Monday. The mob of around 1,000 persons gathered to submit the memorandum to the district collector to protest the murder of Kisan Bharwad in Dhandhuka which became uncontrolled for nearly half an hour.
According to police, around 1,000 people gathered at the collector office and submitted a memorandum demanding strict action against the accused in the Bharwad murder case. Following this, the leaderless mob blocked the traffic on Kasturba marg near Dharam cinema where police intervened. A group gathered and forced shops to close opposite Galaxy cinema on racecourse road and another group reached Sadar Bazar. Here, there was a police PCR van patrolling, and the mob damaged the van and vandalised three shops, forcing them to close down.
The mob targeted eggs and non-veg carts. The senior police officers resorted to lathicharge to disburse the mob in which one person got injured. According to sources, somebody from the mob also pelted stones at police.
Deputy commissioner of police Manoharsinh Jadeja, addressing media persons said, “The police had to resort to lathicharge after the mob became uncontrollable. The mob is disbursed and there is no mob on the road. The law and order situation is completely under control.” Jadeja asked people to resist posting provocative comments on social media.
Bharwad was shot dead in Dhandhuka town of Ahmedabad district on January 25 by two motorcycle-borne men for sharing a controversial post on Islam and its religious figures on social media. The Gujarat government handed the investigation to the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which on Sunday arrested a cleric from old Delhi Maulana Qumar Gani Islami in connection with this murder.
