Rajasthan clashes: CM Ashok Gehlot says rioters will not be spared

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that culprits involved in riots will not be spared while the government will ensure that no incidents of violence take place in the state.

Speaking to the media, Gehlot said, "To ensure no violence takes place in the state, action will be taken against the culprit. No one has the right to take law and order in their hands."

He also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for "bulldozing" houses of the poor and alleged that it is the "homework" from the party's high command to defame the Congress-led state government.

"They (BJP) bulldoze the houses of the poor. Their high command has instructed them to defame our government and to create instability. Those who have become Chief Minister candidate...there's competition (among them), and have been given homework, which is why they are stretching everything."

Notably, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a detailed report from the Rajasthan government over communal tension in the state's Jodhpur region, sources said on Wednesday.

As per the sources, the Ministry is also "watching the situation closely" and getting inputs from the state's administrative and police authorities.

Tension gripped Gehlot's hometown Jodhpur hours before Eid on Tuesday, prompting the authorities to suspend mobile internet services and impose a curfew in 10 police station areas of the city.

There was agitation over putting up religious flags on the Jalori gate circle in Jodhpur, which led to stone-pelting in which five policemen were injured.

The state Chief Minister has appealed to people to maintain peace and harmony.

Following the incident, Jodhpur Police issued orders imposing a curfew till May 4 midnight besides suspending mobile internet services to check the spread of rumours.

The situation was brought under control in the early hours of Tuesday with heavy deployment of police but tension escalated again in the morning after prayers at an Eidgah. Shops, vehicles and houses were pelted with stones near the Jalori gate area.

Members of the minority community were installing Eid flags and they put up a flag on a roundabout alongside the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa. This led to a confrontation as members of the other community alleged that a saffron flag, which they had put up there ahead of Parshuram Jayanti, had gone missing.

The issue snowballed into stone-pelting and clashes, officials said.

The police rushed to the spot to control the situation during which five policemen were injured, the police said.

The police had to lob tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Mobile internet services were suspended in the area to check the spread of rumours, the officials said.

(ANI)

Also Read: Jodhpur Violence: Religious festivals have become a weapon for communal politics, says Brinda Karat