Daily Times

AHMEDABAD, India – Six people have died in incidents of violence reported across Gujarat in the last 24 hours as the Patel reservation agitation took a deadly turn on Wednesday.

Campaign leader Hardik Patel had given a 36 hours ultimatum to the government to take action against the police officers who beat up the protesters on Monday night.

About 5,000 paramilitary personnel were on Tuesday rushed to Gujarat in the wake of violence. Apprehending more trouble, curfew was clamped in parts of Ahmedabad and other major cities across the state on Tuesday.

Apart from Ahmedabad, curfew had been clamped in Surat, Mehsana, Rajkot, Jamnagnar and Patan cities. Fresh violence broke out during the day-long bandh called by the Patel outfit demanding Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) quota for the community in Gujarat, a day after the mega rally.

In a televised address in Gujrati, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm and emphasised that all issues could be resolved through talks. “In the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel – the way violence has been resorted to as a tool – I appeal to all brothers and sisters of Gujarat that they should not resort to violence. The only ‘Mantra’ must be ‘Shanti’ (peace),” said Modi, who has been chief minister of the state for 12 years.

“Police have recovered bodies of three persons who were suspected to have been killed in violence spread across the city,” police spokesman ND Trivedi said. According to a senior police official, two persons died in police firing in Vastral area, while body of a man was found in Ghatlodia in the city. “Girish Patel (47) and his son Siddharth Patel (20) were killed in police firing late last night,” he said.

Normal life was paralysed as schools, colleges, business establishments – including banks and public transport – remained closed in most places in view of the bandh call given by 21-year-old Hardik after his brief detention on Monday when he was protesting for quota at the GMDC ground. Incidents of arson and stone-pelting were reported in many parts of Surat city on Wednesday, when Patel community members came out in large numbers to “enforce” the bandh.