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Police avert clash in Ajmer

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: The police fired in the air in the Dargah locality of Ajmer town in Rajasthan on Tuesday morning to disperse two groups which were heading towards each other after a dispute over lighting of crackers. The timely action by the police averted a confrontation between the two communities on the eve of Id in the post-Diwali season.

Talking to The Hindu on phone from Ajmer, Superintendent of Police Sunil Mathur said the police had to intervene in the Muslim-dominated Longia mohalla in the neighbourhood of the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti to avert a clash. The groups had indulged in stone-throwing prior to the arrival of the police, he said. Nobody was seriously hurt.

Tuesday's tension between the two communities had its origins in the dispute on the day of Diwali over lighting of crackers by children in the Longia mohalla. A complaint registered with the police said that crackers were thrown into the premises of a madrasa.

On Tuesday morning a group reportedly led by Sohaib, a unani practitioner, collected in the area provoking a similar assembly by members of the other community. The groups, carrying weapons, started hurling stones at each other. Peace was restored after the police firing in the air.

The locality had a similar situation a month ago when Dr. Sohaib reportedly tried to stop an "aarti" forming part of a Garba dance programme.

The SP said the situation in the area now was "normal" and a meeting of the peace committee had been held. "The issue has been sorted out. The situation is under control."

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Police avert clash in Ajmer

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