odies were burnt in Gopalgarh village in a bid to destroy evidence of police excesses. The official count of the dead is 7, but eyewitnesses say they saw the police burn at least 15 bodies. All the dead men are Meo Muslims killed in police firing on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses also say they have seen burnt bodies in a well behind the mosque, which was made out of bounds for the national media. Members of the Meo Muslim community had fled the village after a clash with the Gujjars as police cracked down on them with a heavy hand.

The area behind the mosque where these residents claimed the bodies were allegedly burnt was turned off bounds for the media after the incident. A land dispute is said to be behind the flare-up. The police claimed that two groups were firing at each other and they started shooting to stop the violent mobs, but the list of casualties tells a different tale.

The vandalised mosque with bullet marks which the police tried to cover later.

"I saw three charred bodies inside the well behind the mosque. The mosque was vandalised and there were huge spots of blood inside the mosque. There were bloody marks indicating that bodies had been dragged out. There was huge police deployment in the village and the national media was not being allowed inside. We had to fight our way in," said Shabnam Hashmi, who runs an NGO, Anhad, and had visited the village on Thursday.

The dead were taken to Sawai Mansingh Hospital in Jaipur, about 200 km from Bharatpur, while the injured were scattered in hospitals in Alwar, Pahari and Jaipur. Local residents said this was in a bid to downplay the number of the dead and the injured. About 22 members of both the communities were injured in the clash.

Mohammed Imran, who was beaten up by the police for violating curfew.

On Friday when this newspaper visited Gopalgarh, the area around the mosque where the violence first started looked like a battle zone. A few pockmarks left by bullets had been hurriedly hidden with cement. The mosque lay vandalised. We were prevented by the forensic team working at the spot from taking photographs.

On Wednesday, the two communities had met at the local mosque for a panchayat convened by the district administration to discuss the land dispute. "We were all gathered at the panchayat to discuss the issue. District administration officials were present, and so were representatives of the Gujjar community. After the officials left, somebody suddenly fired at the gathering. We don't know who fired first, but it was pandemonium after that," said Jamshed Khan, a local resident. The police and the district administration claimed that both sides had fired at each other and they had to step in to control the flare-up. But the Meos said the police played a partisan role and supported the Gujjar mobs.

ocal politician Zahida Khan, Congress MLA from Kaman, accused the police of excessive brutality.

Zahida Khan said that it was never a communal clash, but the administration gave it a communal colour. "Both communities have differences on that piece of land. But all the Meos were killed in police firing. It is not a communal clash. Also, the cops did not fire rubber bullets and teargas shells as warning, but they straightaway fired at the people," alleged Khan, who was visiting the spot on Thursday.

In fact, Muslim residents also said that the police station was barely 50 metres from the mosque but they did little to stop the violent mob from reaching the mosque.

Mohammed Imran (31) lives a few metres away from the mosque. Imran claimed that over 15 people were killed and added that the police did not help them at all.

"I came out today after three days as there was nothing to eat in the house. I also had to get some medicines for my mother. But the moment I stepped out, the police started beating me. I was not even involved. And when a Gujjar comes out they just warn him and makes him turn back," said Imran, an electrician.

Imran said that the Gujjars became more restive after the dispute was taken to court by the Meos. "From our side, our Imam, Hafiz Abdul Rasheed, is looking after the court proceedings. The Gujjars beat him up for that. I saw him being chased by Gujjars. He came straight to my house for shelter. It was only when we all gathered that they left," said Imran.

Another victim, Mum Saleem, who had a small shop of farming tools, had also fled the village like others. His shop was burnt. "It happened between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. The situation became so tense that we had to leave the place," said Saleem. He is a graduate but was not able to find a job so he started his own venture. He said he tried his best to calm the situation but the police was of no help.

"I was pleading with my community members not to do anything as the police would be arriving soon. When the police came I begged them to control the situation, but to my surprise they did nothing," Saleem added.

Saleem, who had been an NCC cadet in college, tried to fend off the men. "The police could have managed the situation. It's not a big place. I received pellets injuries on my arms and legs. Then I thought it was dangerous to stay back. When I came back today, my shop had been burnt."

Gujjars, however, had a different story to tell and that is perhaps an indicator of how rumour mills add grist to such situations. They claimed they heard rumours that the Meos were gathering ammunition and were planning to attack them. "Our village is surrounded by 40 villages of Meos. We were scared of being attacked. Then we heard that a cow was slaughtered in our village," said Hemraj, who introduced himself as a Gujjar and then stressed the fact that he was an OBC.

"They burnt their houses on their own just to show what was happening to them. We didn't even come out of our houses. We were so scared. We are not even going to the fields," said Hemraj.

Babudin and Imran, however, denied these charges. "How can you believe that? It's such a small village and how can we do such a thing? If the adjoining villages were planning to attack, they would have already done it. It's all nonsense," said Babudin.

Gopalgarh is a Gujjar majority village with a 5,000-strong population of which about 100 families are Muslims. The vortex of Wednesday's violence was a piece of land that both communities were trying to wrest control of for the last 42 years. Never before has that contest turned so bloody. The Gujjars claimed that the disputed plot was recorded as graveyard land by a patwari by mistake. Meos, on the other hand, said it was always a part of the graveyard.

The matter was taken to court barely two months ago and some villagers contend that's what turned relations sour. The mosque located on the contentious piece of land is a centre of worship for many Muslims who live in neighbouring villages.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity and lazing cops snapped into attention. Rajasthan Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal had arrived. Dhariwal headed straight for the houses of the Muslim residents who were in hiding till Friday morning. A big retinue of officials and journalists followed him.

"Yeh Rajasthan ke malik hain. Bolo koi takleef hai to. Aray bolo bhai. Khud aye hain milnay (He is the owner of Rajasthan and has come to see you personally. Tell him if there is a problem)," an official told a visibly shaken Babudin, the village locksmith.

Clearly, overwhelmed by the attention, Babudin could only mumble: "Abhi to sab theek hai (Right now there is no problem)."

"Yahi sunne aye the (This is what we came to hear)," the official patted his back and moved on to another house. They again received the same answer. Only Imran, the electrician, mustered up some courage and complained. "Police hamari nahi hai, sarkar. Unhone ne bohat zulam kiya hai (Police is not on our side. They have been very cruel to us)," Imran told Dhariwal. He got a reconciliatory pat on his back.

Later, speaking to the media, Dhariwal justified the police firing saying that they had "no other option". "There would have been more casualties if police hadn't opened fire."

On Friday night, however, the Rajasthan government, which had come under fire for the mishandling of the situation, ordered a CBI probe into the clashes. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has also ordered the suspension of the area district collector Krishna Kunal and the superintendent of police Singlaz Dan. Gehlot has also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a job to the next of kin of the dead.

The dead have been identified as Abdullah, resident of Bandhwadi; Hakimuddin, resident of Maliki; Iqbal of Piproli; Mubarak of Ladmaka; Irfan of Arguka; Zakeen of Ladmaka; Isha of Danitpur.