By IANS,
Jaipur : Tension persisted in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district Thursday, a day after clashes between two communities over a plot of land claimed at least four lives and left 21 injured, mostly with gunshot wounds, police said.
Curfew was imposed in Gopalgarh and nearby areas in the district, about 170 km from here, and prohibitory orders banning the gathering of five or more people on the outskirts were enforced by the district administration to contain the tension.
“Curfew has been imposed in Gopalgarh, Kaman, Sikari, Pahari, Jurhata and Kaithwara police station areas,” said an official.
The armed forces have been called in.
“Situation is tense, but under control. People are not being allowed to come out of their houses. No untoward incident was reported after the clash,” said Bharatpur Superintendent of Police Hinglaz Dan.
A district administration official added that bullets continued to be fired from both sides till about 10 p.m. Many shops were set on fire and looted.
Amongst the injured is a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer, who was deputed as additional district magistrate (ADM) in Bharatpur.
Police said the dispute between the Gujjar and Meo communities was over a piece of land with one group claiming that it was for a burial centre and the other that it was for a pond.
“In the revenue records of the district administration, the land had been allotted for a burial centre mistakenly. When people approached senior officials, the case was referred to a sub-divisional magistrate. The other group claimed the disputed land was for construction of a pond,” said an official.
A meeting to discuss the issue was held Wednesday in the presence of two legislators.
“As soon as the meeting ended, incidents of arson and stone pelting were reported in the area and soon both groups got engaged in a gunfight,” the official said.
Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal told reporters that police had also fired in the air to disperse the crowd.
There was confusion over the death toll. The administration first said eight people were killed but Thursday morning brought the number down to four.