Maulavi Mustakin, Mateen and Mohsin had planned the attack on Shree Ram Shobha Yatra in Gujarat’s Khambhat on Sunday (April 10). Shree Ram Shobha Yatra was organised to celebrate Ram Navami in the Khambhat town of Anand district in Gujarat.
The Gujarat Police have found in its investigation that the maulvis planned the attack on Saturday (April 9) when they got the news that the administration had granted permission for Shree Ram Shobha Yatra.
Maulavi Mustakin also involved Razak Ayub and Hussain Hashemsha Diwan in the planning and execution of the riot. Stones, rods, arms & ammunition, and petrol bombs were arranged a day in advance, and legal help was promised to the rioters.
“They planned to attack the procession and spread violence with the aim to teach the members of Hindu community a lesson to not take out any such procession in the future,” a senior police officer told PTI.
Shree Ram Shobha Yatra came under heavy stone-pelting the moment it reached a mosque in Khambhat. Sixty-year-old Kanhaiyalal Rana was lynched by the rioters.
The Gujarat Police further suspect the involvement of more people in the attack on the Ram Navami procession.
On Ram Navami (Sunday, April 10), in the Himmatnagar area of Sabarkantha district in Gujarat, another procession was attacked by a Muslim mob. In the Ram Rath Yatra, the rioters burnt the Rath and attacked the participants with stones and rods. Multiple policemen were also attacked by the rioters.
Police resorted to teargas and the use of force to disperse the rioters.
During Uttarayan in Gujarat in January 2020, a Muslim mob in Khambhat had torched multiple Hindu shops and set fire to them. Vinod Chavda, 65, was killed by the mob.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi took cognisance of the attacks on Ram Navami celebrations and called a meeting of the top police officials to review the situation.
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