By: Express News ServiceVadodara | Updated: September 23, 2025 04:48 AM IST 3 min readSenior police officials said that the probe is also underway to ascertain whether the protest was spontaneous (Representational/Archive)The Vadodara City Police has arrested 54 people in connection with the riot that broke out in the Juni Gadi and Panigate area on Friday night over an AI-generated social media post allegedly hurting “religious sentiments”.Police said steps are underway to identify the remaining accused through videos of the incident, including that of the police, media and private persons.Senior police officials said that the probe is also underway to ascertain whether the protest was spontaneous.A thorough investigation is underway to ascertain whether Friday’s riot in the walled city area of Vadodara was indeed a “spontaneous” reaction of members of a community who had taken to the streets in protest against an AI-generated social media post that allegedly “hurt their religious sentiments”, police sources said.The “prime accused” arrested in connection with the case – Mohammad Zuber Safi Memon, Mohammad Taufeeq Shaikh and Abbasali Illyas Saiyyed, all residents of different parts of the city – are under police custody.Memon is a resident of Memon colony, while Shaikh resides in Bhandwada and Saiyyed is a resident of Fatehpura, and all of them were among those gathered in the area where the riot broke out, police said.Police records have shown that Memon had previously been booked seven times for rioting, assault, attempt to murder and possession of firearms while Shaikh had been booked in two previous cases of extortion and gambling.Story continues below this adAnother accused arrested in the case —Irfan Ibrahim Shaikh— had also been booked in a previous case of rioting.Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IV) Andrew Macwan told The Indian Express: “The search for the other accused is underway. The police remand of the three accused will end on Tuesday. The person arrested for posting the social media post has been remanded to judicial custody. We are checking if he has any previous record of committing such an act.”Security coverThe Vadodara City Police’s Special Operations Group has been manning the sensitive walled city area with drone cameras to keep vigil even as normalcy was restored immediately after the riot. Senior police officials said that following the riot on Friday night, an Urs of the minority community was held under strict police bandobast on Sunday, which also saw the deployment of drone cameras for surveillance.Specialised drones help the city police scan terraces of residential and commercial multi-storey structures on either side of the narrow streets — starkly divided between communities.Story continues below this adA senior police official said, “There have been previous incidents of rioting during crowded processions and in most cases, stones were pelted from terraces or rooftops of structures by miscreants looking to breach peace. The drone surveillance helps us find potential troubles in the form of objects or persons on the terraces of the structures — some of which are three storeys.”Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Vadodara Police