Date:25/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/25/stories/2008052557770100.htm

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Gujjar agitation spreads

Sunny Sebastian

18 killed, 38 injured in police firing in Dausa district

— PHOTO: PTI

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

JAIPUR: Eighteen people were killed in police firing at Sikandra in Dausa district on Saturday as Gujjars continued their agitation demanding Scheduled Tribe status.

In an attempt to defuse the crisis, the Office of Chief Minister invited the convener of the Gujjar Arakshan Sangarsh Samiti, Kirori Singh Bainsla, for talks on Sunday. The Collectors and Superintendents of Police of Bharatpur and Karauli districts were also replaced.

On Friday, 17 people were killed in the Gujjar-police clashes in the Bayana tehsil of Bharatpur district.

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

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

They shot a CRPF sub-inspector in the leg and 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 cabin of the Rajasthan Roadways.

“The attack was planned. We will not tolerate this kind of terror from anyone,” the DGP said. In the two-day violence, 19 police personnel sustained pellet injuries.

Eyewitnesses at Sikandra said they counted 12 persons falling to bullets as police opened fire. There were four rounds of clashes between the police and the agitators.

An eyewitness said he saw the bodies of two women. Thirty-eight injured persons were brought to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital here. Thirteen of them are critical.

The Jaipur-Agra stretch of NH 11 — the focal point of the May 2007 agitation, which claimed 26 lives — witnessed roadblocks during the day even as Mr. Bainsla staged a dharna with 12 bodies at Pilupura in Bayana.

The crowd at Pilupura swelled to 25,000-30,000. Protestors snatched four bodies being taken for funeral to Khedla by police and brought them to the site.

Bharatpur Divisional Commissioner Niranjan Arya told The Hindu that the bodies of all 17 victims of Friday’s violence were awaiting funeral. The State witnessed violent protests elsewhere during the day. In Sikar district’s Neem Ka Thana, a bus was set ablaze, while in Rajsamand district the national highway was blocked for a long time.