According to the police, a tempo-driver got involved in an argument with youths of a different community when a tractor parked inconveniently near the ESI Hospital impeded his progress around 11.30 am. He reportedly blew on his horn continuously, following which the group dragged him down from the tempo and beat him up.

Though the SRP point was just 200 feet away, the driver did not report the matter, the police said, adding that he went off to his residence, and returned with a dozen-odd youths. The other group also swelled, and a full-scale stone-pelting war broke out.

SRP personnel arriving on the scene, too, were targeted, the police said, adding that three constables -- Dhirubhai, Dayaram and Amrutbhai -- were hit on their faces. One of them fired three rounds in the air from his .303 rifle to disperse the mobs, the police said.

Though no one was injured, one bullet hit the residence of former mamlatdar A U Sardar. The police later collected the spent bullet and signed a panchnama with Sardar.

The entire stretch between the ESI Hospital and Bawaman Shah Dargah and some of the bylanes were littered with stones and broken bricks, the mute remnants of a pitched battle, when this reporter arrived on the scene. The police said the mobs had picked up bricks from a construction site near the hospital.

Senior officers, including Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohan Jha, arrived at the scene of the incident soon afterwards, and met local leaders of the two communities to seek their cooperation in maintaining peace and harmony in the locality.

Jha said additional police force had been posted in the area to ensure no untoward incidents occurred. ``The local police has been told to be extra-vigilant and deal strictly with anti-socials irrespective of their communal links.

PI S G Chaudhary said the tempo driver had been arrested. A case under Sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 336, 337, 186 and 332 of the IPC and 135 of the Bombay Police Act has been registered against him.