New Delhi, India — A 12-year-old boy was killed and two people were wounded when police opened fire to break up a riot that erupted at a kite flying festival in western India.
Riots broke out Monday in Ahmedabad, capital of coastal Gujarat state, 470 miles southwest of New Delhi, as rival groups of kite flyers began attacking each other with rocks from rooftops, the Press Trust of India reported today.
Authorities said 23 people, including 20 policemen, were injured in the stone-throwing.
The clashes spread to several areas of the city and police fired 48 tear gas shells and 58 rounds of ammunition into the crowd to halt the rioting, police said. A 12-year-old boy was killed and two people were injured.
The Press Trust, quoting police officials, said the boy was killed by “a direct hit of a tear gas shell.” Police officers had been posted on rooftops in several central areas of the city for the past 10 days as a precaution against rowdyism during the kite flying festival.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 18, 1985
