October 7, 2002	Monday	Rajab 29, 1423

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AHMEDABAD, Oct 6: Two people were injured on Sunday when police opened fire at a mob during fresh Hindu-Muslim clashes in Baroda city of Indian Gujarat, police said.

Communal tension flared in the Chipwad area of Baroda rural, over 120km south of here, when police had to cane and then open fire to stop Muslims from constructing the wall of a mosque despite prohibitory orders.

“When some Muslims in the Chipwad area refused to follow police orders to refrain from going ahead with construction of the mosque wall, the police opened fire ... injuring two persons,” said a Baroda police spokesperson.

Police said a meeting of Muslim leaders had earlier been called where they had been asked not to construct the wall because of the nine-day Hindu festival of Navrati, which begins on Monday.

“We felt that building of a mosque wall during Navrati would lead to communal clashes in the area,” said the spokesperson. On Saturday night, there was an explosion in the Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad city in which six people were injured.—AFP