14 killed, 2 missing ; army flag marches in Rajasthan

Jaipur, May 29 (UNI) The Army was called out and a red alert sounded across Rajasthan after at least 14 people were killed, two policemen were reported missing and around 90 injured in Dausa and Bundi districts today as members of the Gujjar community turned violent during demonstrations and chakka jams to press for their inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes category.

The army subsequently staged a flag march between Sikandara and Patoli in Dausa district even as 10 columns of the army were sent from Jaipur, Bharatpur and Kota for deployment in Dausa and Bundi districts, Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters here.

Seven people died in Dausa district and as many, including a policeman, were killed in violence in Bundi, Mr Kataria said.

He said six deceased were identified in the Patoli village violence on the Jaipur Agra Highway in Dausa district where police was forced to open fire to rescue about 15 police personnel from being attacked.

Two policemen were still reported missing and they are feared to be dead, he said.

In Bundi, too, police was forced to open fire on the highway in the town when the mob gathered near Dev Narain Temple tried to beat four policemen badly.

Six people were killed in the firing while one policemen, who was injured in mob attack, succumbed to his injuries later. Another policemen was struggling for life at the Kota Hospital, he said.

Around 90 people, most of them police personnel, were injured in the violence. While eight of the injured were referrred to the SMS Hospital here, others were being treated at different hospitals in Dausa, Mahuwa, Sikandara, Bundi and Kota.

He said the state government had sought the assistance of the army to guard railway and public property at highways, bridges and railway tracks as agitators tried to damage the same at a few places.

The mob damaged tracks at Arania railway station near Bandikui on the busy Jaipur-Delhi-Jaipur-Agra rail routes and the trains were being passed on a diverted route.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who was in Delhi to attend the National Development Council (NDC) meeting, preponed her departure for Jaipur by a day and flew to the state capital tonight to review the situation.

Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi decided to send a three-member team of party leaders to take stock of the situation in violence-hit areas. The team, comprising Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Mrs Krishna Tirath and KC Lenka, will visit the state tomorrow, party general-secretary former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said here.

Mr Gehlot demanded Ms Raje's resignation holding her ''responsible'' for the unfortunate events in the state. He said it was the ''laxity'' on the part of the Chief Minister which had led to the ugly situation.

He also demanded an inquiruy into the today's violence by a sitting Rajasthan High Court judge.

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UNI