Dausa, May 29: Reservation, the benign creature that fed on a steady quota of tall promises to grow into a Frankenstein, has begun to devour its children and their minders alike.

Fourteen bodies lay scattered in Rajasthan today as Gujjar mobs seeking demotion on the social ladder to ensure economic empowerment clashed with a clue- less police force across the state.

The BJP — in power in the state — had promised that it would pressure the Centre to transfer the Gujjars from the OBC category to the Scheduled Tribes list which would mean more benefits than their current tag. The promise was not kept.

“The community feels betrayed by the government as three years after the BJP came to power, the Gujjars are still where they were,” Ramakrishna Goud, a Gujjar leader at the helm of today’s protests, told The Telegraph.

Pockets of civil war sprouted around Jaipur, bringing under reservation siege a region that has fought many a bloody battle but rarely on such a cause.

As protesters stoned police vehicles, officers opened fire indiscriminately. So mindless was the shooting that three Rajasthan police officers fell to bullets fired by their colleagues.

Among the dead, 11 were civilians from Patoli, Peepalkheda and Bundi villages, clustered together around 60 km from Jaipur on the highway towards Agra.

The protesters responded by blocking off large segments of the highway connecting Delhi to Jaipur, and the Pink City to Agra.

By late evening, the army was out on the streets. Six army battalions, four Rapid Action Force companies, and paramilitary reinforcements from the Centre did bring about an uneasy calm — though many parts of the highways remain out of reach of the administration.

A glance at the Dausa superintendent of police, Rahul Mahajan, in whose district the clashes broke out first, was enough to confirm that his force was unprepared for the spiral of violence. Dejected and out of depths, the officer was virtually throwing up his hands when this reporter ran into him.

The warning signs were in the air since last month. The Gujjar Mahasabha, leading the agitation for ST status in Rajasthan, had issued an “ultimatum’ to the Vasundhara Raje government: raise the issue with the Centre by May 29 “or face the consequences”.

But somehow, the police and the politicians did not take them seriously.

This morning, the dam broke. A mob of around 30,000 gathered near Patoli village on the national highway, blocking traffic. The police arrived at the scene around 9 am, only to be stoned.

The force returned with reinforcements half an hour later, but the tear gas shells and mild lathi-charge proved inadequate in the face of the stones that soon became rocks.

“What happened is unfortunate. But these mistakes happen. Finally, you must remember, police officers are also human beings with normal fears,” Mahajan said, his heavy frame bending forward in fatigue.

Dausa MP Sachin Pilot called the firing “reminiscent of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.” “The BJP government first fails to fulfil its promises, and when people demand the assurances be met, the police open fire. What kind of a government is this?”

Brave words for a politician whose party is also not above playing quota politics.

The protesters want the CBI to investigate the firing — and are particularly adamant that the additional superintendent of police (Dausa), Kishoreshahi Meena, be punished. They alleged that it was Meena who ordered the police to open fire.

Chief minister Raje and her colleagues were so stunned by the events that they could not even decide the compensation to be paid to the relatives of the dead — another token of benevolence politicians never forget to promise.

After being heckled at a hospital, Raje called a cabinet meeting that stretched late into the night.