Police arrest 13 after clashes over dargah demolition in Gujarat

At least 13 people have been taken into custody following violent clashes in Gujarat’s Somnath district on Monday, after residents of Veraval’s Prabhas Patan area allegedly attempted to stop officials from demolishing a dargah. Police said more arrests are expected as the investigation continues.

Officials said tensions escalated when an exchange between local residents and staff from the Mamlatdar’s office turned confrontational. When the boundary wall of the dargah was brought down, nearly a hundred women and children gathered in protest.

According to police, the crowd began throwing stones at officers, prompting them to use batons and fire three teargas shells to bring the situation under control. The demolition drive then resumed once calm was restored, officials told The Indian Express.

By Tuesday morning, authorities had cleared debris from 11 demolished structures, including several houses and the religious site, Maktoob Media reported.

An FIR was registered at the Prabhas Patan police station based on a complaint from Deputy Mamlatdar Ranjeetsinh R. Kher. The complaint said that officials had initially removed illegal constructions on government land—listed as survey number 831—without incident earlier in the day, but that tensions flared later when the demolition extended to the dargah. Around 70–100 people allegedly surrounded the team, shouting slogans and later pelting stones.

Seventeen named individuals and several unidentified persons were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rioting, unlawful assembly, assault on public servants, and endangering life, along with charges under the Gujarat Police Act.

Police said the area remains under close watch to prevent further unrest.

The latest demolition follows similar incidents on September 28, 2024, when local authorities had razed nine Muslim religious structures including the 1200-year-old Haji Mangrol Dargah, Shah Silar Dargah, and Garib Shah Dargah along with a mosque, a 500-year-old graveyard, and 47 homes in the same Prabhas Patan locality.

The earlier action had drawn controversy for allegedly violating a Supreme Court directive prohibiting demolitions without due legal process.