By NNN-PTI,
Bayana, India : Army was today deployed in Bayana town and nearby villages in the state of Rajasthan as tension mounted following clashes between Gujjars community, demanding Schedule Tribe status, and police that left 16 people dead.
The agitating Gujjars damaged a rail track disrupting train services along the Delhi-Mumbai section.
Leader of the agitating Gujjar community, Kirori Singh Bhainsla said his supporters have resorted to this action after their demand fell on deaf ears.
“We will stick to this place for the time being and later on take our agitation to other areas till our demands are met,” he said even as heaps of chappatis, onions and other eatables are being piled up in the area by tractors for the demonstrators.
Four columns of army (about 800 troops) were deployed in Bayana town and nearby villages of Philpura, Dhumaria, Karvaria where the situation continued be tense, Bharatpur District Collector T Ravi Kant said.
As a precautionary measure, prohibitory orders have been promulgated in Dholpur, Sawaimadhopur, Karauli, Bharatpur and Jaipur districts, official sources said in the state capital.
Sixteen people, including a policeman, were yesterday killed in police firing and clashes between members of Gujjar community demanding Scheduled Tribe status for them and the men in uniform at Bayana.
The police opened fire when the protestors torched two police jeeps and attacked and clashed with them in Karwar area in Bayana block of the district while a policeman was lynched by the mob.