It all began with the VHP objecting to the friendship between a Muslim youth and a Hindu girl, whose parents are business partners. On the girl's request, the youth had escorted her to a neighbouring village on Monday. On their way back, VHP activists intercepted the couple, sent the girl home, roughed up the boy, damaged his bike and handed him over to the police on the charge that he was trying to elope with the girl.

``Yes, my men did beat up the youth'', said VHP district secretary Jakeshbhai Patel. ``My organisation does not approve of boys and girls of different communities going about together. Moreover, Rabari boys (the girl belongs to this community) do not marry girls who flirt with youths of other communities. This could have created problems when she tried to get married.''

The self-appointed moral guardians, who had launched a campaign against inter-community relationships in South Gujarat last year, however, received a setback when the girl as well as her parents refused pointblank to lodge any complaint against the youth.

While her parents told the police the two families had had a long, cordial relationship, the girl clarified that the youth had never misbehaved with her.

Talking to Express Newsline, District Superintendent of Police Vivek Srivastava said that though the VHP had alleged the youth had forcibly taken the girl away from the town to marry her, their case had been weakened by the absence of any supporting statements from the girl or her parents.``They even refused to lodge a complaint against the boy'', he said, adding that the outcome of the case would depend on them.

When asked in what connection the eight people including the youth concerned had been arrested, a police official said that after the girl's party refused to lodge a complaint, VHP activists and local Muslims reached a compromise, with the latter group assuring the police the youth would avoid the girl's company in the future.

Subsequently, however, some Muslim youths taunted the VHP men, he said, adding that the police, at that point, detained the youth. This led to an argument, with the Muslims demanding the youth be released. ``When they refused to disperse, and instead started pelting the police with stones, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Dhiraj Pandya ordered a mild lathi-charge'', the official said.

Though no one was injured in the lathi-charge, eight people were taken into custody in connection with the stone-pelting, the official said.