Muzaffarnagar continues to be tense

LUCKNOW: The situation continued to be tense in Muzaffarnagar on Thursday after fresh violence left four persons dead on Wednesday night. Even persons have been arrested so far and 15 have been named in FIRs. UP Director General of Police Deoraj Nagar, who was in Delhi for some meeting, has been told to rush to the district where last month 52 persons were killed and 50,000 were displaced in one of the bloodiest communal violence in UP in the past two decades. An alert has been sounded in nine adjoining districts. Officials said that the Army can be called in if situation deteriorates.

Heavy police force has been deployed in the areas which reported fresh violence. Extra units of the provincial armed constabulary have also been rushed. Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma and senior superintendent of police Hari Narain Singh are camping at the site. Police said that eight persons have been arrested and FIRs have been lodged against 15. Officials said that it will be early to say that the clashes were communal but admitted that killings have led to the tension in the area.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was also keeping an eye on the development. On Wednesday evening, four persons died in two separate incidents in the outskirts of the district.

In the first incident in Bhaurankalan police station area, people from two communities clashed in which three persons were killed. According to police, people belonging to Mohammadpur Rai Singh village attacked and killed three persons of Hussainpur village. The three were working in the field when they were killed. In the second incident in Phugana area, a woman was first stabbed and then shot dead while her husband was critically injured. Later, angry locals blocked the road demanding action.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) R K Vishwkarma told reporters that investigations were on to identify the assailants and ascertain the motive behind the attack. Police is worried that the agitation by villagers, also supported by the Khap Panchayats, could turn violent in the coming days. "We are investigating the exact reason behind the clashes in both the incidents," said a senior police officer. There is no report about any further untoward incident so far," they added. The two incidents, they said, could also be fallout of rivalries.