NEW DELHI, 16 April 2004 — Communal fire erupted again in Gujarat on Wednesday leaving eight people injured and two shops burned, a senior police officer said yesterday in Ahmedabad. The situation was said to be under control. A dispute over a local cricket match in the highly sensitive Gomtipur area triggered the communal clash. Police lobbed 85 tear gas shells to disperse mobs of both the communities.
“The clashes began over a minor dispute regarding a cricket match that was played in a street. The area is peaceful now,” the police officer said. Paramilitary troops were deployed in the Gomtipur area of the city where groups of Hindus and Muslims attacked each other with stones, he added.
With Gujarat due to vote on April 20, the day the national elections are scheduled to begin, Wednesday’s clashes have made the police extra vigilant about communal violence flaring up in the state.
“Though this clash has nothing to do with elections we are increasing our vigilance against any fresh violence because of elections next week,” the officer said.
