Gujarat: Social media post triggers communal clash in Patan district, 8 injured

After a racial altercation broke out over a social media post and left eight people injured in Gujarat's Patan district, ten individuals have so far been detained.

As per reports, a social media post on the Bollywood film "The Kerala Story" was what started the fight in Balisana town on the evening of July 16; the police have not yet released the post's exact text.

“We have so far arrested ten persons belonging to both sides. Of them, eight from one side were arrested on Monday while two from the opposite side, including one Krish Patel, were arrested on Tuesday,” said Inspector J S Chaudhary of Balisana police station.

According to Chaudhary, cases have been filed against the 10 suspects on a variety of counts, including rioting, assault, and attempted murder.

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On Monday, the police transported several of the detained suspects to the Masjid Chowk neighbourhood in Balisana where the incident occurred as part of the inquiry. On the social internet, a video of this police drill known as "reconstruction of the crime" quickly gained popularity.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police KK Pandya, the situation in the town is under control.

“Some people were upset because a person from the town had posted something on social media. This post eventually led to a communal clash on Sunday night. Eight persons were injured in the clash. We have taken complaints from both sides,” said Pandya.

According to a first information report (FIR) filed after Arif Shaikh filed a complaint, two men named Krish Patel and Nimesh Patel attacked Arif Shaikh and his uncle Ilyas Shaikh despite the fact that the two had already come to an agreement on the young person's social media post.

According to Arif Shaikh, the Patel couple hit them with a steel rod and hurled stones at them.

A man named Meetkumar Patel said in his cross-complaint that a crowd of around 35 individuals, including the Shaikh couple, attacked him and five of his friends at Masjid Chowk with the purpose to kill them because of a social media post that a local kid had published.

According to their FIR, on Sunday night over the post at Masjid Chowk, Shaikh and others encircled Patel and five of his pals and violently beat them with clubs, pipes, and swords.