Times of India

VADODARA/ ANAND: An NRI from Anand district was shot dead by assailants at his convenience store in the United States (US). Fifty-two-year-old Preyas Patel, who hails from Sojitra town of Anand district, along with an American national identified as Logan Edward Thomas, 35, was found with gunshot wounds at the store located near Fairway Plaza shopping centre in Virginia. The shooting took place around midnight on Wednesday. The duo who were fatally wounded were pronounced dead at the crime scene after the local police reached the store. Patel, who was fondly called Cheekoo by his friends, was trying to help an employee in his store when he himself turned into a victim of the violent crime. Patel ran the convenience store named 7 Eleven near the shopping centre. Sources said that Patel, a native of Navadhara area of Sojitra, had moved to the US over a decade ago. His father Deva Patel belongs to Sojitra. Patel's relatives who reside in Anand have left for the US after learning about his death. His younger brother Tejas Patel, who is president of BJP's Vallabh Vidyanagar unit, along with his parents left for the US on Thursday, sources close to the family said. A resident of Virginia's New Port, Patel was known by the nickname Peter. Sources said that police are investigating the shoot out further to identify the assailants.

The Indian Express

A communal clash broke out in Gujarat’s Anand district in which a police constable and three other persons suffered injuries, an official said Sunday.Police have arrested 14 people in connection with the incident that took place in Borsad town on Saturday night over the issue of laying of bricks on a disputed plot of land, he said.Later, the police lobbed around 50 teargas shells and fired 30 rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, Deputy Superintendent of Police D R Patel said.Heavy security has been deployed in the town and the situation is under control, he said.“At around 9.30 pm on Saturday, some people from a community were laying bricks on a disputed plot. Some members of another community objected to it, leading to an altercation between the two sides. The dispute later escalated and members from both the sides started hurling stones at each other,” the official said.After being alerted, local police rushed to the spot and appealed to members of both the communities to maintain peace, he said.The local civic chief also reached there and asked the people to refrain from laying bricks on the plot until the dispute was resolved, he said.However, members from the two communities threw stones on each other and clashed. A police constable and another person were stabbed in he violence, Patel said, adding that two other persons were also injured.The police lobbed teargas shells and fired rubber bullets to disperse the rioters, he said.The constable was seriously injured. He and the three other injured persons were admitted to hospital, the official said.At least 14 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence, he said.The police have identified 15 sensitive locations in the city and heavy security has been deployed there. Two companies of the State Reserve Police (SRP) have also been called for security in the affected areas, the official said.

Times of India

Ahmedabad: "Nana-nana helicopter ude chhe, chhokraone lai jay chhe. Dhad ke chori kari jaay chhe." (There are small helicopters flying. They will abduct kids. Carry out robbery or theft). These are some of the rumours spreading fast in villages of at least six districts – Kheda, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Morbi, Surendranagar and Anand — which has led to villagers to live in unwarranted fear and put cops on alert.At Sarsavani village in Mahemdavad taluka of Kheda district, the rumour mongering has been growing for around a month. The villagers claimed to have seen drones in the sky, which they say are flown by thieves or "child lifters".Ashwin Chauhan, a resident of Sarsavani village, said, "It started with incident involving theft of two buffaloes two months ago. Since then, rumours started building about gangs roaming the village to abduct small children. Some villagers saw blinking lights of drones at night and say that criminals keep a watch on them with the intention of carrying out burglaries or abducting children."Another resident of Sarsavani — the native village of freedom fighter and Gandhian Ravishankar Maharaj — said the villagers keep vigil round the clock to thwart untoward incidents.Needless to say, the rumour-mills have put cops on alert who are wary overzealous crowds taking law in their hands like in 2016 when a tidal wave of rumour mongering had gripped the state while in 2018 a woman was lynched in Ahmedabad following rumours of child kidnappers on prowl. Inspector N D Nakum of Mahemdavad said a lack of understanding and misinformation cause such rumour mongering. "A countrywide drone festival was held recently, where participants flew their drones and these villagers thought they were criminals. We deployed cops in such villages and regularly send out patrols to smother these rumours," said Nakum.Kheda SP Rajesh Gadhia said it has come to their notice that such rumours are spreading in Morbi, Surendranagar and Anand too. "Someone recently flew a toy helicopter in a village of Umreth taluka in Anand district. Some villagers caught it when it flew low and found it was just a toy, available for around Rs 600," said Gadhia. "Having said that, we have been taking these rumours and incidents very seriously. We have been talking to sarpanches. As they also sometimes get scared of planes in the sky, we made them download a flight tracker app, so they know there are planes above and not drones watching them," Gadhia said.He said police have been making extra efforts to ensure no one faces mob violence because of these rumours, which have also spread in the adjacent parts of Ahmedabad district.An officer of Ahmedabad rural police said these rumours spread like wildfire. "There was some oil pipeline work underway near the expressway, for which a drone survey was conducted by ONGC or some government agency four months ago."Since then, villagers of eight to ten villages have been complaining about seeing drones every now and then. A funeral procession in Vadod village of Daskroi was recently held with just about ten men only as many villagers stayed home to guard their children and property," the officer said."They say a small helicopter-like flying object was seen, and that these are used by gangs of criminals to steal valuables and abduct children," said a police officer.For the past week, similar rumours and fears of drones have been witnessed in four or five villages of Dehgam taluka. "The villagers say they saw blinking lights of a drone after which an inquiry was started," said a police officer.

The Hindu