Police fired 60 rounds in the air to quell protesters, who set fire to a courtroom, a sub-divisional magistrate's office and a civic body office in Bayana town in Bharatpur district.
JAIPUR: Violence on Wednesday spread to several parts of Rajasthan on the second day of the Gujjar stir with protesters setting fire to two police stations and several government buildings and blocking road and rail traffic as talks between the government and agitating community leaders failed to take off.
Eight Rajasthan Roadways buses were torched near Bharatpur and Sariska in Alwar district and incidents of road blockades, arson and stone-pelting were also reported from Bandikui, Karauli, Dausa, Dholpur, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur, Bhilwara, Bundi and Chittorgarh.
Police fired 60 rounds in the air to quell protesters, who set fire to a courtroom, a sub-divisional magistrate's office and a civic body office in Bayana town in Bharatpur district. Fourteen people, including two policemen, have been killed in the violence that started with the 'chakka jam' agitation yesterday over the Gujjar community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Two police stations were set ablaze in Dubi and Sikandra in worst-hit Dausa district where agitators continued the blockade of Jaipur-Agra highway for the second day from Pipalkhera to Pachroli in neighbouring Karuli district.
The government's bid to restore normalcy by offering to hold talks with representatives of the Gujjar Reservation Sangharsh Samiti leaders, including Karnal Kirori Singh Bainsla, failed to take off.
"No one from the Samiti has turned up here for talks so far," Parliamentary Affairs Minister B S Rajawat said.
"We are keeping all doors open for dialogue...We will wait for their response," he said.
A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje after she returned from Delhi last night, had decided to form a four-member ministerial team to hold dialogue with the Samiti representatives, Rajawat said, adding the leaders, who were contacted by officials over phone, had agreed for the talks.
The meeting also reviewed the law and order situation which was tense, he said, maintaining that steps were being taken to end the spate of violence.
A senior district police official informed that a group of students who tried to throw stones at the Dholpur Palace that once belonged to Vasundhara Raje were chased away by police at Gulab Bagh Circle.
The agitators also set fire to LPG cylinders-laden truck at Kotputali in Jaipur district last night but fire fighters prevented a major incident by dousing it on time, police said.
The Gujjar community also held protests and enforced shutdowns in Bhilwara, Jhalawar, Ramganjmandi, Barana, Bhiwadi and Chittorgarh towns in support of their demands. Protestors also blockaded National Highway No 3 connecting Agra and Gwalior via Dholpur, police said.
Army was deployed on the national highways connecting Jaipur with Agra via Dausa and Kota yesterday in a bid to check the agitation. Army had also staged a flag march on the Jaipur-Dausa road.
Meanwhile, the Centre has despatched over 2,000 personnel of central security forces to Rajasthan and assured the state that more forces would be sent if needed.
In Delhi, Congress MP from Dausa Sachin Pilot accused the BJP government in Rajasthan of adopting a 'callous' attitude in handling the Gujjar reservation issue and demanded imposition of President's rule in the state.
He claimed that "not a single state government official" had visited the districts of Dausa, Karauli and Bundi which had witness large-scale violence on Tuesday.
He said he spoke to Home Minister Shivraj Patil who assured him that more paramilitary and armed forces will be deployed if the situation required.
Rail and road traffic between Rajasthan and the national capital were severely affected with most trains and state transport bus services being suspended.
Passengers were left stranded at railway stations and bus stands with almost all modes of transport suspended since Tuesday afternoon.
In Jaipur, Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Minister K L Gujjar and five Gurjar MLAs of the ruling BJP offered to resign in the wake of the agitation.
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