NEW DELHI, July 14 (Xinhua) -- At least two people have been killed and several others injured in violent clashes between two communities in the western Indian state of Gujarat, police said Friday.
"The clashes broke out late Thursday evening between members of the Bharwad and Rajput communities in the state's Morbi and Surendranagar districts after some members of Bharwad community pelted stones at Rajputwhen members when they were going to attend a condolence meeting," local police chief Jaypalsinh Rathod told the media.
"First an altercation broke out in Halvad town, then it turned sour and clashes ensued. The Rajput members were on their way to attend the condolence meeting of one of their community leaders who was murdered last week, a day after he was released on parole from a jail where he was held for the murder of a member of Bharwad community," he added.
While two persons were killed in the clashes, several others sustained injuries, some of them serious, another senior police official said. "Some of the injured are being treated in local hospitals. More than 30 vehicles were also set on fire during the clashes in the two districts," he added.
"The situation is now under control as a large number of police personnel have been deployed on the Halvad-Dhrangadhra road," Rathod said.
The state's junior Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja have urged people from both the communities to maintain peace, while the authorities have suspended Internet services in both the districts to curb any rumor mongering that may lead to more clashes.
"To prevent spread of rumors, we have suspended Internet services in Morbi and Surendranagar. As many as seven companies of the State Reserve Police have been sent to control the situation," Jadeja said.
