10 killed in police firing on Gujjars

Saturday, May 24, 2008
10 killed in police firing on Gujjars

Daussa/Bayana: At least 10 people were killed today and scores wounded when police opened fire on a mob that set ablaze a police station in the Daussa district of Rajasthan as the Gujjars agitation for ST tag spread to new areas of the state.

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bhainsala said he was ready to talk to the government but said the agitation would continue till their demand was met.

Police opened fire when a mob of Gujjars, protesting the police firing on their community members in Bayana in Bharatpur district yesterday and pressing for ST status, stormed the police station at Sikendra in Daussa district, after overpowering the policemen and set it on fire, SHO Bane Singh said.

With this, the death count in two days of firing and clashes between Gujjars and police mounted to 26 of whom 16 lost their lives yesterday.

"The situation is extremely tense and additional police force has been requisitioned to handle the situation," Singh said.

Police had opened fire on Gujjar agitators at Philpura village of Bayana yesterday when they pelted stones on them after tear gas shells failed to disperse the protestors who damaged the railway tracks.

Eight hundred army men were deployed today in violence-hit Dhumiria and Karwari villages of Bayana tehsil, joining CRPF and Rapid Action Force to restore law and order.

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