Date:25/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/25/stories/2008052555520100.htm

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Gujjar agitation spreads

Sunny Sebastian

Armed protesters try to set police station on fire

— PHOTO: PTI

DISRUPTING RAIL TRAFFIC: Gujjars try to dig up a railway track at Pilu ka Nagala near Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

JAIPUR: Fifteen people were killed in police firing in Sikandra on Saturday as Gujjars continued their agitation for Scheduled Tribe status.

On Friday 17 people were killed in Gujjar-police clashes in Bayana tehsil of Bharatpur district. Sikandra is in Dausa district.

Home Commissioner V.S. Singh and Director General of Police A.S. Gill who briefed newspersons here, however, put the death toll at Sikandra at four.

Around 2,000-2,500 protesters, armed with weapons, attacked the Sikandra police station and tried to set it on fire.

They shot a CRPF sub-inspector in the leg and severely beat up three policemen after snatching their rifles, Mr. Gill said.

Police opened fire after teargas and rubber bullets failed to disperse the crowd, which burnt two vehicles and damaged a Rajasthan Roadways cabin. “The attack was planned. We will not tolerate this kind of terror,” the DGP said.

Eyewitnesses at Sikandra said they counted at least 12 bodies after the firing. There were four rounds of clashes between the police and the agitators and each time the crowd was dispersed with a round of firing.

The Jaipur-Agra stretch of NH 11witnessed road blocks at many points during the day. Convener of the Gujjar Arakshan Sangarsh Samiti, Kirori Singh Bainsla, staged a dharna with 12 bodies at Pilupura in Bayana demanding a decision from the government.

The crowd at Pilupura swelled to some 25,000-30,000 by evening. Protesters snatched four bodies taken for funeral to Khedla by the police and brought them to the site. Col. Bainsla said he would allow a post mortem if they were carried out at the site.

Bharatpur Divisional Commissioner Niranjan Arya told The Hindu that all 17 victims of Friday’s violence awaited funeral. The bodies in the custody of the police were being kept in the hospitals, he said.

The State witnessed violent protests elsewhere during the day. In Sikar district’s Neem Ka Thana a bus was set ablaze by crowds while in Rajsamand district the National Highway was blocked for a considerable time.

A police post was set ablaze at Guda Chanderji in Nadoti tehsil of Karauli district.