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Rathyatra ends peacefully in Ahmedabad

Shortly before the 35-km yatra through the communally sensitive areas of Ahmedabad, police seized a huge quantity of firearms and ammunition and arrested ten people from two minority-dominated localities.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the yatra from the famous Jagannath temple at Jamalpur in the morning.

Nearly 15,000 paramilitary personnel and policemen kept vigil as three chariots carrying the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra made their way through the narrow lanes of Dariapur, Shahpur and Kalupur localities.

No violence was reported from any part of the city, a relieved Ahmedabad Police Commissioner K R Kaushik told reporters after the event.

The annual procession of the chariots, accompanied by decorated elephants, began with thousands of people singing bhajans and chanting hymns.

Commandos guarded the exquisitely designed and painted chariots and policemen monitored the yatra from rooftops.

The yatra was cut down this year keeping in mind the sensitive situation in the state.

Devotees chanted jai Kanhaiyalal ki all along the route even as youths demonstrated martial arts.

At Jamalpur, from where the yatra began, J V Momeem, general secretary of the Tazia Committee and Usman Gani Devriwala, an independent legislator, presented a replica of a local mosque to Mahant Ramachandradas, the chief priest of the Jagannath temple, at a function organised by the city civic body.

A mob attacked the yatra with stones at Kadgarh locality of Pithland town in Anand district shortly before it was to end at around 1700 hours, police sources said.

The police lobbed teargas shells and opened fire on the mob, they said, adding one person was injured.

In Baroda, the yatra passed off without any untoward incident.

Muslim leaders ensured that members of their community kept away from the route of the yatra.

The other important centres where rathyatras were taken out included Godhra, Gandhinagar, Himmatnagar, Palanpur, Idar, Anand, Kadi, Modasa, Dhansura and Ambaji.

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