Once again a Gurjjar protest turned horribly violent in Rajasthan leaving at least six persons dead. While authorities claim six persons including a police constable died along the railway track at Bayana in Bharatpur, where the Gurjjars had gathered to protest on Friday morning, sources said the toll could be higher.

Friday’s trouble comes a week ahead of the first anniversary of the police firing on Gurjjar agitators in the state and subsequent violence that claimed 26 lives and sparked off tension between the Meenas and the Gurjjars. The Gurjjars are demanding Scheduled Caste status.

The trouble started around 1 pm on Friday when hundreds of Gurjjars gathered near the Dungaria railway station in support of a ‘rail roko’ call given by Rajasthan Gurjar Arakashan Sangarsh Samiti leader Kirori Singh Bainsla. The police tried to use teargas to disperse the crowds, followed by a couple of rounds fired in the air. When the crowd refused to budge, they fired at the protesters killing five of them — some sources put the toll at seven.

Soon, the protesters caught hold of police constable Bhola Ram and bludgeoned him to death. Those injured in the melee have been referred to hospitals in Hindon. Reports said Col Baisala had gone on a “maun vrat” following the firing.

“The mob threw stones and did not disperse even after police lobbed teargas shells,” Principal Home Secretary V S Singh said in Jaipur. Later, at an emergency Cabinet meeting state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria condemned the timing of the protests, coming hardly a week after the blasts in the state capital. Kataria said the protesters violated Section 144 of the CrPC which had been imposed in the area two days back.

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