Region calm, crackdown on
Paramilitary forces stage flag march in rural areas to instill sense of security; toll goes up to 47
Curfew was relaxed for 12 hours in Muzaffarnagar on Friday even as the crackdown on antisocials continued with 187 more arrests in the districts of western UP where four more bodies were found, taking the toll since the outbreak of communal violence in the region to 47.
Two of the four bodies were found in the Ganga Canal at Muzaffarnagar’s Jauli. While one was 25 years old, the other was 30.
Though a crowd of villagers who gathered at the spot could not identify the bodies, it is assumed both the men died in communal violence at Jauli village last week.
No official confirmation was made by the police who said the bodies were sent for post-mortem. One body each was found in Shamli and in Jani area of Meerut.
In Meerut, an uneasy calm prevailed following recovery of the teenager’s body from a graveyard on Thursday night.
Police arrested t wo youth of another community on charges of murder. The deceased was a resident of Subhash Nagar locality.
He was missing since Wednesday evening after a fight with some others of another community over running a cyber cafe .
Meanwhile, Friday prayers were offered at a place of worship at a stone’s throw from the site of the incident under tight security.
However, many shopkeepers kept their establishments closed and vehicular traffic was thin.
Inspector general of police (special task force) Ashish Gupta said curfew was relaxed from 7am to 7pm in Muzaffarnagar where the situation was fast returning to normal.
As many as fixed police pickets and 536 mobile police teams were deployed in the district’s rural areas there as people remained anxious about the situation.
The paramilitary forces staged a flag march to instill a sense of security in the people and the police organized intensive patrolling there.
Paramilitary forces are deployed in the six districts of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Saharanpur, Baghpat and Hapur.
Detailing the action taken so far, the police had arrested 1766 people and the National Security Act (NSA) was imposed on 11 persons involved in the killings.
The police also seized 182 illegal arms in the house-tohouse searches in the area, he said.