VIOLENCE

JAIPUR: Around half-a-dozen policemen were injured when Gujjar protesters demanding five percent special reservation for their community in government jobs and education institutes opened fire, burnt vehicles and threw stones in Rajasthan’s Dholpur district on Sunday.

Rajasthan’s Director General of Police (law and order) ML Lather, in the evening, said three cases have been registered against the agitators in Jhunjhunu and two more will be lodged in Dholpur, where the protesters burnt a police vehicle and set a police post on fire.

As a precautionary measure, authorities have imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) that prohibits assembly of more than four people in an area in Dholpur and neighbouring Karauli.

Dholpur police superintendent Ajay Singh said the protesters blocked the Agra-morena highway in Sawai Madhopur and threw stones at policemen stationed there. “The police fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob,” he said.

Singh said the protesters then entered the houses on both sides of the highway and fired using countrymade pistols. “The situation is under control and around four to six police personnel received injuries…”

Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (GASS), which is leading the agitation for the reservation, has threatened to intensify it from Monday. Kirori Lal Bainsala, the GASS chief, said the protests will take place at more areas after an auspicious time for weddings ends on Sunday. He continued to sit on railway tracks near Malrana Dungar railway station in Sawai Madhopur along with his supporters.

Lather said adequate arrangements have been made to maintain