A curfew has been imposed in Udgir town in Latur district after communal violence broke out following rumours of a green flag being hoisted on the Udgir Fort. Udgir is located 540 km east of Mumbai and borders Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Trouble started Friday after there were rumours that a green flag was hoisted on top of the shrine of Udgir Baba inside the fort,said the police. Some people wanted to hold a protest march on Saturday. On being stopped by the police,they indulged in stone pelting with members of two communities taking on each other, said Latur SP Prakash Gaikar. He,however,said the police were still investigating whether any green flag was indeed hoisted inside the fort or not. The mob of protesters was detained at Shivaji Chowk by the police. We asked them to hand over their memorandum to us at Shivaji Chowk,but they did not listen and indulged in stone pelting. They also burnt a few vehicles and destroyed handcarts, Gaikar added. After properties belonging to members of the minority community were targeted,a fight ensued between the two sides,said the police. The police were forced to use teargas to disburse people from both sides. We have so far arrested 57 people from both the communities for rioting, Gaikar said. The police have imposed a curfew in Udgir till Monday morning.
