Senior citizens begin fast-unto-death over a riot case

Vadodara, May 11 (UNI) The brutal killing of Mohammad Rariq Vora in the recent communal violence in city today took a new turn when five senior citizens of the city began a fast-unto-death protesting police action against ''innocents falsely implicated'' in the case.

They also demanded a CBI probe into the killing of 30-year-old Vora, who was allegedly stabbed and burnt alive in his car by an irate mob at Mahavir chowk here on May 2, a day after a controversial ''dargah'' was demolished in the sensitive Fatehpura area in the city.

The violence in the city, in spite of curfew in the affected areas-had forced the state government to call the Army.

The Vora case was handed over to the Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB) which arrested Nilkanth Garagewala, one of the 14 accused named in the first information report (FIR). Nilkanth was today sent to judicial custody after the expiry of his four-day police remand.

Residents of Riddhi Siddhi housing society protested against the arrest of Nilkanth and accusation against 13 others in the case on the basis of what they called a ''false statement'' of the victim's brother Haji Vora.

Claiming the accused to be innocent, the protestors, including four women, began ''fast-unto-death'' to press for a CBI probe. into the incident.

UNI SS SA AK PM2231