Gujarat: Clash between two communities over use of road in Godhra; 10 held

Godhra: A clash erupted between members of two communities over the use of a road in Godhra town of Gujarat's Panchmahal district, police said on Tuesday.

One person was injured in the clash which took place on Monday evening and the police arrested 10 persons on Tuesday in connection with the incident, an official said.

As per an FIR lodged on a complaint of Kaderkhan Pathan, one of the accused, Mitrang Parmar, and a few others objected to him using a street passing through their locality, the official said.

Pathan claimed the road he frequently used was closed for the construction of a railway underpass, he said.

The complainant alleged he was passing through the street on his motorcycle on Monday evening when Parmar objected to this and they had an argument, the official said.

The quarrel escalated and members of the two communities started pelting stones at each other, the official said, adding one person was injured in the incident.

A police team reached the spot to control the situation.

A video of stone pelting went viral on social media.

Two FIRs were registered, based on complaints from both the sides, in which five accused each from the two communities have been named, the official said.

In one of the FIRs, Parmar accused Pathan and four others of forming unlawful assembly, hurling abuses and thrashing him, he said.

The police have arrested five members each from the two communities under Indian Penal Code Sections 323, 335 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 143, 149 (unlawful assembly) and 147 (rioting), the official said.