Ahmedabad: One woman was killed and several others injured as the festivities marking beginning of Ganesh Chaturthi in Gujarat was marred by two separate incidents of communal violence in Vadodara and coastal town of Kodinaar in Junagadh district late August 31 night, police said on September 1.

A woman, identified as Ramilaben Chauhan, was killed and two others injured when police opened fire to disperse stone-pelting mobs from two communities at Wadi Moghul area of the city, Vadodara Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha said.

Trouble started when a procession transporting Ganesh idol allegedly raised objectionable slogans while passing through the locality, which led to stone- pelting between the two communities, he added.

When the mobs refused to disperse even after teargas shells were lobbed, police opened fire, killing one person and injuring two others, he said, adding eight persons also suffered injuries in the stone- pelting.

In another incident, rampaging mobs vandalised shops and resorted to stone throwing and arson in the coastal town of Kodinaar in Junagadh district.

Police said two shops were torched and six others damaged as mobs of two communities clashed when the procession of Lord Ganesh reached near a madrassa, adjacent to a temple where the idol was to be kept.

According to a complainant Rauf Abdul Gani, rampaging mobs allegedly looted cloth worth Rs 1.74 lakh and torched goods worth Rs 20,000 in his shop.

However, situation at both the places is under control and police has detained several persons in connection with the incidents, sources added.

PTI