Gujarat: Locals hurl stones at cops in containment zone; 68 held

Residents of a COVID-19 containment zone in Gujarat’s Rajkot district hurled stones at
police and damaged some vehicles when the security personnel tried to stop them from removing barricades placed in the area, an official said on Sunday (May 17).

“Nearly 68 people were arrested after the incident that took place in Jangleshwar locality of Rajkot around Saturday midnight,” he said, adding that police lobbed tear gas shells
and baton-charged the rioters to disperse them and bring the situation under control.

“Locals hurled stones at policemen and damaged vehicles when the security men tried to stop them from removing barricades placed in the area designated as red zone, due to
a large number of coronavirus cases found there,” an official from Bhaktinagar police station said.

“People of the locality were upset as local authorities were not removing barricades in their area, even as barricades in some other areas under containment zone were being removed,” Bhaktinagars police inspector V.K. Gadhvi said.

“Police lobbed six teargas shells and baton-charged the mob to control the situation,” he said.

Nearly 68 people were later arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 147, 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to public servant)
and 353 (assault on public servant ), among others, he said.

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Security was stepped up in the area to maintain law and order, he added.

Two days back on May 15, in a similar incident, migrants from Maharashtra headed towards Uttar Pradesh and Bihar went on a rampage and hurled stones at the police after waiting for nine hours for food.