Arson and stone-pelting in Ballia town after attack on teen; 16 held

VARANASI : Anti-social elements ransacked over a dozen shops and set four of them on fire during a clash between people of two communities over the alleged beating of a youth in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday evening.

The arson took place after heavy stone-pelting at Ratsar town in Garwar police station area of the district.

No death was reported in the clash. District magistrate Surendra Vikram said, “The situation is completely under control. Sixteen people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Heavy police force was deployed as a precautionary measure.”

Sub-inspector Surendranath Singh, the Ratsar police outpost in-charge, was suspended in connection with the incident, he said.

The seeds of trouble were sown as a 17-year-old youth suffered a minor injury when a bike driven by an 18-year-old man, also a local, hit his bicycle near Panchayat Bhavan on Tuesday, police said. The collision prompted an altercation between the two. After locals intervened and pacified them, they went home.

Later, a group of youths from another community assaulted the same 17-year-old when he went to a market.

His relatives informed the police and rushed him to the district hospital where doctors gave him medication and discharged at night.

His relatives and some locals took the youth to the Gandhi Ashram intersection on Wednesday and blocked Pachkhora-Ekil road, demanding registration of a case and the arrest of those who allegedly assaulted the youth.

A mob’s entry into the area led to heavy stone pelting and a stampede in the market. In the melee, some anti-social elements ransacked over a dozen shops and set afire four others.

District magistrate Surendra Vikram and superintendent of police Anil Kumar reached the spot with a police team. Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawans and police personnel controlled the situation. Fire tenders extinguished the flames in the shops.

The police have been instructed to keep a strict vigil on the area at night.

HT PHOTO A shop was set ablaze during the clash between people of two communities in Ratsar town, Ballia on Wednesday.

HT Two youths, who were injured in the clash, crying on a roadside.