Ahmedabad: Communal clashes broke out between two communities in Himmatnagar and Khambhat cities in Gujarat on Sunday during Ram Navami processions, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to control mobs who pelted stones at each other and damaged shops and vehicles at both places. The number of injuries, if any, is not known so far, officials said. Members of two communities hurled stones at each other when a Ram Navami procession reached Chhapariya locality in Himmatnagar city in the Sabarkantha district in the late afternoon, a police official said.
"Police fired tear gas shells to control the situation. Later, the additional police force was brought in from outside the city to bring the situation under control," the official said. In Khambhat town in the Anand district, a clash broke out during a Ram Navami procession wherein stones were pelted and shops and vehicles were damaged by two groups, a control room official said, adding that tear gas shells were fired. The processions were taken out on the occasion of Ram Navami celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ram.
PTI
