Ahmedabad : The communal violence which began on Monday in the Nagorivaad area of Ahmedabad's Shahpur locality has spread to several other communally-sensitive parts of the city, reports DNA.
On Wednesday, four more people were stabbed, two motorbikes were burnt and an AMTS bus and a private car were vandalised by rioters. The violence-torn areas are very tense.
Police have intensified patrolling in the affected areas but their presence seems to be having no impact on the rioters.
The violence on Wednesday began immediately after the funeral of Vijay Datania who was assaulted and seriously injured by unidentified assailants in Nagorivaad area on Tuesday afternoon. "My father was stabbed and his chest was crushed with big stones," Jay Datania, son of the deceased, Vijay Datania, told DNA. "Acid was also poured on his body."
The rioters on Tuesday had dropped 52-year-old Vijay Datania at his residence after beating him up. He was then admitted to the VS Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday morning. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Violence erupted once again after Vijay Datania's funeral at around 1 in the afternoon. Two stabbing incidents were reported immediately after the funeral. A senior citizen, Mohammad Shaikh, and another person, were stabbed near RC High School in Delhi Darwaja area.
In another incident, Rajnibhai and a part-time employee of the CBI court in the city were stabbed near St Xavier's school in Mirzapur. A press photographer, who had taken photographs of the incident, was assaulted and his camera broken by an angry mob.
The Shahpur riots claimed its first victim in Vijay Datania (52) and thus robbed a poor family of its sole bread winner.
The victim's house in Tania Mahajan Ni Vadi opposite Navi Pol in Shahpur had an air of gloom as the body of the sole bread-winner of the family was taken for its last rites. Datania was killed by a group of people following communal tension in the area. Datania's funeral was carried out at 1 in the afternoon on Wednesday amid heavy police bandobast.
Deputy commissioner of police, SM Katara, several police inspectors and 20 police vehicles were present for the funeral.
Datania, a daily wage earner, worked with a printing press near Rangeela Chowky. He earned about Rs100 a day. He was killed while on his way home for his lunch.
Datania and his family lived in a small house and the introvert man mostly concerned himself with his own work. "We never harmed anybody. I don't know why he was killed," said Hansa Datania, his widow.
Hansa said that it was part of his daily routine to return home for lunch every afternoon. "He didn't know about the communal tension in the area and was passing through the lane near Mitha Nu Dehlu in Shahpur," she said.
Datania is survived by two sons and a daughter. His younger son, Jay told DNA that his father was the sole bread-winner and that they at times helped him augment the family income.
Datania, while passing through Mitha Nu Dehlu, was dragged inside the locality and assaulted by a group of people.
"He was stabbed on his left thigh. His head and chest were crushed after being beaten with heavy stones. He continuously vomited blood as he was assaulted," Jay said.
Datania was taken to the VS Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. The police, however, are yet to make any arrest in the case.
The kin of Datania alleged that he was killed on the behest of some political leaders so as to create communal tension in the area. "A municipal councillor had motivated the people to create communal tension," said Hansa.
