Communal tension, curfew grip Varanasi

The state government had to rush the Special Task Force SSP Arun Kumar andIG Vikram Singh from Lucknow to supervise the situation there since the Varanasi SSP was on leave. “The situation is peaceful and under control but there had been no relaxation in the curfew,” said V K Mittal, PrincipalSecretary (Home). The officer in charge of the Madanpura police station, which was the epicentre of the riots, has been suspended.

While the Home Department claimed that there had been no incidents of violence since last night in the curfew-bound areas but unconfirmed reports said that there were bomb blasts at a few places. “The bomb blast which occurred at Madanpura had nothing to do with riots but was a sequel to property dispute within a Muslim family,” Mittal said.

Trouble first broke out when members of a particular community, whowere already charged with an incident on April 17, dragged two scooteristsand attacked them with weapons causing immediate death to one and serious injury to others.

On April 17, members of a particular community alleged that their procession of Alam was stopped deliberately under Adampura police station while the police remained inert. “There were scattered incidents under the police stations where curfew is imposed and was could be checked in time,” claimed the Secretary (Home).

Meanwhile, Vinod Jain, who was killed in the clash, was crematedthis afternoon. Eight companies of the PAC, RAF and several policemen have been deployed in affected areas. The police stations where the curfew is in force are: Chetganj, Chowk, Bhelupur, Luxa and Dashamashesh Ghat.