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AHMEDABAD, INDIA, March 5, 2002: Stray incidents of violence continued in Gujarat on the sixth day even though the scale of violence came down considerably. The toll in the last six days of violence in this riot-torn states now stands at 572, including the 58 persons killed in the attack on Sabarmati Express in Godhra last Wednesday. The state police control room in Gandhinagar has confirmed that 514 deaths have taken place in the post-Godhra aftermath, including 97 persons who have been killed in police firing. The figures have shot up from 430 to 514 during the last 24 hours mainly due to recovery of more bodies and conformation of killings by the police control room. Fresh violence has been reported in North Gujarat areas, particularly in Sabarkantha and Banaskantha districts, where mobs were targeting specific communities till late in the night. Trouble broke out in Halad and Danta towns of Banaskantha and Vijaynagar in Sabarkantha where the police had to open fire at violent mobs. According to unconfirmed reports, at least six persons have been burnt alive in Navaseshan village of Sabarkantha. Police sources said that two persons had been killed in Vijaynagar and six others in Halad and Danta overnight. The situation was still very tense on Monday morning when reports last came in. In Meda Adaraj in Mehsana district, one person was killed in police firing. The Central Gujarat districts of Anand, Kheda, Panchmahals and Dahod were also very tense following fresh incidents of violence in the villages. Incidents of violence have been reported from Mehamdabad, Kathlal and Kapadvanj areas of Kheda district overnight. Ahmedabad was relatively quiet on Monday evening though there were four stabbings incidents in Vejalpur, Shahpur and Kalupur in which the Vejalpur victim succumbed to injuries. The police claimed that some 534 people had also been arrested in connection with the riots in the city that followed the Sabarmati Express carnage.

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