Three injured in clash in Gujarat village

Ahmedabad: Three persons were injured in a clash between people of two different communities in Panchmahals district over an 'objectionable' song played at a marriage procession while it was passing through a locality dominated by a particular community, police said today.

Over 12 people belonging to a community entered into an altercation with people from another community residing at Sheikh Falia locality in Eral village under Kalol taluka, when they objected to a song being played repeatedly during a marriage procession late last night, Vejalpur police inspector Sahdevsinh Padheriya said.

"While nobody was hurt, cross FIRs were filed by both the aggrieved parties under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (guilty for committing offence in unlawful assembly) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC," Padheriya said.

Around 15 police personnel were deployed in the village to ensure that the situation does not worsen, he said, adding that in cross FIRs, 22 people from both the communities were named and investigation was on.

Notably, Eral, which has a population of around 5,000, had seen one of the worst post-Godhra riots in which eight persons from a Muslim family were killed and two women of the same family gangraped, after which eight were served life imprisonment by a local court.

Following the riots, Muslims from the village had fled, but subsequently came back to stay and work on their fields.