Violence, curfew in Rajsamand

By Our Staff Correspondent

JAIPUR, AUG. 6. Indefinite curfew was clamped in Rajsamand town in South Rajasthan today following communal violence sparked off by the alleged attack on a group of `Kavadia yatris'. A few shops in the city were burnt down in the violence, while police dispersed the riotous mob.

The police sources said here that an entourage of `Kavadias' was on way to a temple in Raj Nagar colony when a few persons allegedly pelted them with stones. One person was injured in the attack. The Kavadias - who carry the Ganga waters for offering in temples - were soon joined by the local residents who indulged in arson and set some shops and vehicles on fire.

Police used ``mild force'' to disperse the mob on the rampage and imposed indefinite curfew in the entire town in the afternoon to bring the situation under control. Police sources asserted that curfew had been clamped as a precautionary measure to prevent worsening of the law and order situation.A crowd of agitated people, which blocked the National Highway No. 8 on the outskirts of Rajsamand for an hour, was also dispersed by police in a prompt action. Four persons were rounded up in connection with the alleged attack on Kavadias. Senior administrative and police officials - including the Udaipur Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Inspector General of Police - were camping in the town.

Though the police sources claimed that timely action by police had prevented the situation from taking a more serious turn, they were not clear as to what had provoked the attack on Kavadias. This was the second major incident of communal tension in Rajasthan in less than a month.

The Malpura town in Tonk district had witnessed large-scale communal riots for two days in the second week of July, which had left 12 persons dead. The curfew imposed in Malpura is still continuing during night.

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