Gujarat: Mob attacks police station over 'Love Jihad' video; cops use lathi-charge, tear gas protesters

In the video, three persons can be seen threatening two youths of the community to vacate their rented room and leave the area after accusing them of 'love jihad.'

Police in a Gujarat village resorted to lathi-charge and fired 24 tear gas shells on Sunday night when around 200 people from a minority community stormed the Limbayat police station. The people demanded action against some individuals who had circulated a video, accusing them of engaging in 'Love Jihad.'

In the video that went viral on Whatsapp, three persons can be seen threatening two youths of the minority community to vacate their rented room and leave the area after accusing them of 'love jihad.'

'Love Jihad' is an alleged activity under which young Muslim boys and men are said to reportedly target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.

"A mob of around 200 from the community gheraoed the police station demanding immediate action against the perpetrators. We first tried to disperse them through mild lathicharge and then fired 24 tear gas shells to control the angry mob, which demanded immediate arrest of the accused," B M Parmar, Limbayat police inspector told PTI.

"We have already lodged an FIR against four accused who have allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of the minority community by making and circulating the video. On the other side, we have registered an FIR of rioting against the mob. No arrests have been made yet," said Parmar, adding that the hunt for the suspects is on.

"We are yet to identify and arrest the accused who have made the video. We are investigating why they made such a video and circulated it," said Parmar.