Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state has been in turmoil for the last 10 days with locals thrashing the non-Gujaratis and threatening them to leave the state.

Share Market Live

NSE

On Monday, in a fresh set of attacks, the locals attacked a company office in Vadodara, leaving six injured.

As on Saturday, 342 people were arrested during the violence. "Six districts have mainly been affected (by the violence), with Mehsana and Sabarkantha being the worst hit. In these districts, 42 cases have been lodged and so far we have arrested 342 accused. More arrests will be made as names of the accused come up during investigation," Director General of Police Shivanand Jha told reporters.

Who are these attackers and why are they attacking the non-Gujaratis?

On September 28, Gujarat police arrested a migrant worker from Bihar who allegedly raped a 14-month-girl belonging to Thakor community.

Immediately after the incident came to light, a number of messages and videos were circulated on social media, claiming that the state had become unsafe for women because of the migrants.

The messages instigated violence in the state with attackers from the Thakor community torching several huts of the labourers, leaving many homeless and several injured. The state has been in turmoil ever since.

The attackers threatened the non-Gujaratis to leave the city by October 8, according to a DNA report. So far, more than 5,000 migrant workers have fled the state.

Police officers quoted by news reports said the violence is persisting despite the efforts taken by the state police.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, head of Thakor Sena, announced that he will go on a 'sadbhavna' (goodwill) fast from October 11 if the government does not withdraw "false cases" registered against his supporters in the wake of the attacks.

(With inputs from PTI)

First Published:Oct 8, 2018 1:29 PM IST