Violence grips Ahmedabad

The demand for OBC status and reservation by the Patels of Gujarat, who organised a mammoth "Maha Kranti Rally” in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, took a violent turn by late night. Large scale reports of arson, burning of buses, attacks on police, houses of home minister and husband of chief minister as well as burning and stone pelting of various government offices and properties poured in from across the state. As a precautionary measure, the authorities imposed curfew in Surat and Mehsana cities. Many highways across the state, including National Highway connecting Delhi to Mumbai, too, were blocked. The trouble began as the news of arrest and eventual release of the 22-year-old Patel leader and organiser of the rally, Hardik Patel, in a late evening action by police. The police used lathicharge and water canon to evict the agitators late in the evening.   DHNS