Varanasi: The administration has deployed paramilitary forces after large scale violence was reported from Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India.
Violence was reported from Khudadadpur village of Nizamabad area in the district for second consecutive night on Sunday, forcing the district administration to call in central paramilitary forces apart from enhancing companies to Provincial Armed Constabulary.
Officials on Monday claimed they could normalize the situation and initiate all precautions to avoid recurrence of untoward situation.
The forces carried out flag marches in several areas of the district. Top police officials reached the district to take stock of the situation. The police also stopped several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Member of Parliament Poonam Sonekar, from entering Azamgarh.
The BJP state president Keshav Maurya had set up a six-member probe team to visit the violence-hit regions and submit a report.
A top police officials told The Times of India that the violence had started on Saturday night from Khudadadpur of Nizamabad but spread to more places the next night.
Following night long exercise of police and paramilitary forces situation was under control since Monday morning. Process of identifying trouble mongers is continuing and as many as nine of them had been arrested so far.”
The violence started after a group torched the house of a Muslim to settle an old enmity. However, the incident turned communal when Muslims came on road to retaliate.
A circle officer, a Sub Divisional Magistrate and more than a dozen policemen were injured in the violence. Police had to fire blank shots in the air and tear gas shells were hurled at the unruly crowd.
Despite deployment of heavy police force miscreants indulged in violence. Later, the violence spread to adjoining areas. Some groups torched a timber mill in Vangaon area.
By late night on Monday police launched massive combing operation in all villages when most of the youths were found absconding. The police took photos of every resident of the affected areas to identify the trouble mongers.
The police have registered 12 First Information Reports against assaulting, damaging private and public properties. District magistrate Suhas L Y said prohibitory orders would continue for a few days.
The magistrate also convened a peace committee meeting of people representing all communities. He claimed that peace had been restored in affected areas and measures have also been initiated to avoid recurrence of any untoward incident.
The communally sensitive district is the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Educational institutes across Azamgarh were shut down till further notice.