Curfew in Daman as anger rises

DAMAN: Angry mobs here attacked government buildings, burnt vehicles and got into pitched battles with the police Friday evening. The protesters, who got out of control, were venting their spleen over Thursday’s bridge collapse, in which at least 26 people, including several children, died.
The target of their ire was the administration of the Union Territory.Curfew was imposed on the town at around 6.45 p.m. as the mobs showed signs of calming down. Police burst tear gas shells and lathicharged the crowds, which failed to have any impact as groups of youngsters emerged from the narrow lanes to attack the offices of chief of police Ram Nivas Meena, and administrator of Daman Arun Mathur. At least ten people, including three policemen, were injured.
Two are in a critical state. Much of the anger against the administration is because its failure to heed warnings about the frail condition of the bridge and the delay in carrying out rescue operations. The offices of the administrator and police chief of Daman, the panchayat office and the MP’s ofice were damaged in sporadic attacks by the mobs. Protests against the Daman administration began on Friday afternoon as people gathered on the banks of the Damanganga and raised slogans against the visiting Union minister of state for home, Harin Pathak.
According to eye-witnesses, the crowd that had gathered on the Nani Daman side of the river, where the bridge collapsed, became enraged when Mr Pathak and Daman MP Bhai Patel reached Moti Daman on the opposite bank in a helicopter and waved at them. They refused to come over to the Nani Daman side where the crowd had gathered. This enraged the crowd which started pelting stones at the Union minister and also attacked several police vehicles. People block a road in Daman on Friday protesting the authorities’ indifference towards Thursday’s tragedy.