27 May:Police today teargassed Gujjar protestors on Delhi-Jaipur highway and in Tonk district as the stir spread to new areas in Rajasthan with agitation leader Kirori Singh Bainsla asking Centre to intervene to resolve the five-day old impasse over the issue of ST status for the community.
Police fired teargas shells to disperse hundreds of protesters who put up blocades on the busy Delhi-Jaipur national highway near Kothputli about 130 kms from the state capital, leading to traffic chaos and large queues of buses.
Police had earlier lathicharged the agitators.Gujjar protesters were also teargassed by police in Tonk district, about 200 kms from Jaipur, after they forced shopkeepers to down their shutters and blockaded roads, Superintendent of Police Giriraj Lal Meena told the news agency.
At least ten people including two policemen were injured in the violence at Ghas village, 12 kms from Tonk, Meena said.
In Banswara district, the protestors burned tyres and effigies of Chief Minister Vasudhara Raje and state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria.Some minor clashes with police were also reported from the area.
The agitation showed no signs of abating with 70-year-old Bainsla, who is camping along with his supporters in Karwadi in Bharatpur district, vowing to continuing the ongoing stir and asking the Centre to intervene.
Making it clear that he would settle for nothing less than ST status for Gujjars, he outrightly a proposal of letter the Chief Minister to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending four to six per cent reservation for the community in the category of denotified tribes.Courtsey : DD NEWS