Communal violence erupted late last evening in Pure Thakur Kadanpur village in Faizabad district’s Milkipur tehsil when a mob attacked a Muslim locality and burnt down at least 10 houses, a day after five persons were arrested on the charge of cow slaughter.Seventeen people have been taken into custody for participating in the attack.SSP Faizabad Avinash Chandra told The Indian Express that four platoons of the PAC had been deployed in the village and four policemen, including police station officer of Inayat Nagar, Alok Varma, had been suspended. Residents alleged that the mob attack took place in the presence of local policemen.At least 15 people were injured in the incident. According to the SSP, Shah Mohammad of the village was arrested on Wednesday with four others—Chand, Meraj, Najeeb and Ram Surat Upadhyay—on the charge of slaughtering a cow. Upadhyay, the SSP said, used to deal in skins and did business with shoe-manufacturing units.But last evening, a mob, allegedly led by the husband of the village pradhan attacked Muslim homes, the SSP said.Following the incident, most men of the locality have fled. Resident Anisa Bano, one of the victims, said: “We have no connection with Shah Mohammad yet the mob attacked us. They tried to kill my father.” Mubarak Ali, seriously injured in the attack, told The Indian Express: “We were asleep when the mob came. They were shouting, telling us to leave the village. What had we done?”
