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Surat's addl commissioner transferred out following violence

The situation in the diamond-and-silk city of Surat in south Gujarat, where seven people died and many others were injured in police firing during the Ganesh immersion procession yesterday, is normal and peaceful.

Minister of state for home Haren Pandya said no untoward incident was reported in Surat since yesterday's incident and a tight vigil was being kept there amid heavy police bandobast. The name of the judge to be appointed to conduct the judicial inquiry would soon be announced, he added.

Meanwhile, with the aim of ensuring a free and fair probe, the state government has transferred with immediate effect Vipul Vijay, additional commissioner of police, Surat, to Ahmedabad. V V Rabari, additional commissioner of police, Ahmedabad, sector-one, has replaced Vijay, while Shivanand Jha, additional commissioner of police, Ahmedabad sector-two, has been transferred to sector-one, in place of Rabari.

Since the Limbayat area in Surat is a trouble spot for communal clashes on Ganesh immersion day for the last four consecutive years, prompted the police to suggest an alternative route which was finalised by them with local leaders two days back. But the processionists who were asked to change the route started pelting stones at the police, forcing the latter to open fire to control the enraged mob.

Out of the seven killed in the firing, five have been identified as Vasant Vamanji Chitte (22), Mangesh Govind Patil (26), Chhedilal Khiladi Jaiswal (25), Baburao Jagtap Maratha (22) and Ravindra B Patil (26). Four of the deceased were cremated at their respective villages in Jalgaon and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra while the fifth victim, Jaiswal, was cremated in his native place, Billori village in Uttar Pradesh.

UNI

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