Location
The 2015 Bharuch riots took place in Hansot Taluka of Bharuch district, Gujarat state in India.
Contents
Probable Causes
Communal tensions before the riots :
1) 9 - 11 December 2014 Regarding pornographic anti-Prophet cartoons circulated by Sunil Patel (Sajan Mansukhbhai Patel) of Ambheta village,
2) 14 December 2014 - 5 January 2015 The attempted Forcible conversion / Ethnic Cleansing of the family of Mohammed Gulam Hafiz Danavala in Katpore village by a Hindu fundamentalist mob. Numerous district wide attacks and threats to the minority community, in particular the villages of Sajod, Ilav and Shera.
and the final spark,
3) 14 January 2015 Uttarayan kite-flying incident in Ambheta village, where a Muslim boy was beaten by a Hindu mob, turned into a communal riot.
Casualties
Deaths :
It left three people dead. One victim died on the spot and two died in hospital.
Two men of the majority community, who were later identified as R.S.S. militant activists, Pratik Magan Patel (29) and Sandeep Chhana Patel (32) were stabbed to death.
One person of the minority community, was murdered in the infamous Sunevkhurd village ambulance attack: Where an ambulance under police protection was surrounded and attacked by a mob, resulting in the patient, who had already had his skull hacked open and exposed being left stranded.
Injuries :
Multiple victims of both the minority and majority communities.
Destruction/damage to assets including property and livestock :
Initially, a shop of a Hindu and a Muslim were burnt in Hansot. Later on houses of Muslims were burned by rioting mobs.
Aftermath
Families were forced to take refuge in neighbouring Surat district.
Some State police had to fire tear gas to control the mobs.
The cremations took place after police deployed Six companies of the Central Reserve Police Force and one company of the Rapid Action Force in the district.
Afterwards the tension between the parties eased.
Fact Finding Reports
Peoples' Union of Civil Liberties ( P.U.C.L. ) : Produced by people of diverse religious origins