15 arrested in Dahod as mob attacks cops

VADODARA: Dahod police arrested 15 persons after it came under attack near the court complex in the town while taking an accused involved in a case of hurting religious sentiments out of the court complex. The accused had shared material hurting the religious sentiments of a community on a social networking site.Dahod police had registered an offence against one Piyush Soni for hurting the religious sentiments of a community after it was found that some material he had shared on an account being operated by him. An offence against Soni was registered by one Moinuddin Qazi at Dahod.Soni was detained on Sunday in connection with the offence and presented in a court at Dahod on Monday. The court granted a day's remand for his interrogation and he was granted bail on Tuesday after the remand ended. The police was taking Soni out of the court compound in a vehicle when the police van was surrounded by a mob that pelted stones on the van. The van was taken back into the court compound and reinforcements had to be called.Even later, the police convoy in which Soni was present was chased by the mob. But the police nabbed persons who were a part of the mob at this time and eventually arrested 15 persons. Qazi has also been made an accused the offence registered by the police on Tuesday night.Dahod rural police sub-inspector M M Puar said that the incident seemed like a planned conspiracy and Qazi was a part of that. He added that the 15 arrested persons would be presented in a local court on Wednesday night and a remand would be sought.The incident had made the police concerned as it took place on the eve of the Jagannath Rathyatra in Dahod. The procession passed away peacefully without any hiccups on Wednesday.