Dhule riots: 'firing excessive but necessary'

Maharashtra Police has admitted in its report to the state government on the January 6 Dhule riots that the police firing was "excessive but necessary" as the situation had gone out of control.

Maharashtra Police has admitted in its report to the state government on the January 6 Dhule riots that the police firing was "excessive but necessary" as the situation had gone out of control.

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According to sources, the report submitted a week ago, said that some senior police officials had gone deep inside the riot zone without adequate police force because of which they had to open fire in a bid to control the violent mob.

Earlier on Friday, six police personnel were arrested for allegedly indulging in vandalism during last month's communal riot in North Maharashtra's Dhule, in which six persons were killed and more than 200 injured.

They were remanded in one-day police custody by a local court. The accused were seen indulging in looting and violence in a video clip shot allegedly during the riots last month, police said.

Apart from the six policemen, three local journalists and another unidentified man showed up in the clip, sources said.

Over 100 people and 102 police personnel were injured in the riots, which erupted over a trivial matter of paying a restaurant bill.