Curfew in Faizabad after riots

Late in the evening,the state government suspended Faizabad ADM (City) Shrikant Mishra for alleged dereliction of duty in dealing with the clash. SP (City) Faizabad Ramji Singh Yadav,city magistrate Tilakdhari Yadav and SHO of City Kotwali Bhullar Yadav were also suspended.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that senior officials have been directed to take stringent action against the troublemakers involved in the violence. He also announced that the traders whose shops were gutted will be compensated.

Two persons,identified as Durga Prasad and Mohammad Umar,were killed in separate incidents soon after the clash,but the police said the deaths were unrelated to the violence in the town.

While Prasad was attacked with scissors,causing his death,in the rural area outside the town,Umar was beaten to death in Inayatganj locality. Both deaths were result of personal disputes,said IG (Law and Order) BP Singh.

Singh said another clash between two communities took place in Mohammadpur Khala police station area of Barabanki area,but the situation was brought under control following intervention of police officials.

Regarding the Faizabad incident,Singh said some people in the procession threw gulal at a religious place,while some youths passed objectionable comments on a girl of another community in Chowk area. The incidents led to an argument between the two groups.

In the Chowk area,a group of locals,who were part of the procession,went berserk on hearing that a stone was thrown on the procession from Rikabganj locality. The mob started pelting stones on houses. They also torched at least 15 shops and some vehicles in the market,the IG said. The shops and vehicles belonged to both communities,he added.

The IG (Law and Order) said that 10 companies of PAC,one of Rapid Action Force,300 recruit sub-inspectors had been dispatched from DGP headquarters to Faizabad and police force from adjacent districts had also been sent to maintain peace.

Director General of Police (DGP) A C Sharma,state Intelligence ADG O P Singh and the Lucknow Range IG reached the spot in the morning and were camping in the district till late this evening.

This is the sixth incident of communal violence in the state since Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav assumed office in March.

In the first incident on June 1,four men were killed in commnal violence in Kosi Kalan area of Mathura. This was followed by burning of 40-odd houses in Asthan village of Pratapgarh on June 23 after the rape and murder of a Dalit girl. Bareilly town witnessed two bouts of rioting on July 23 and August 11 in which three persons were killed. On August 17,a mob protesting alleged atrocities on Muslims in Myanmar and Assam vandalised shops,attacked passerby and beat up journalists in Lucknow. Recently,a police station was attacked in Masuri,Ghaziabad,after torn pages of Koran were found.