Azamgarh remains tense after communal violence

Lucknow, May 16: Situation remained tense in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district after it was hit by communal violence on Sunday night, an official said on Monday.

The communally sensitive district is the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

People took to streets late Sunday night and resorted to arson and set shops on fire in Saraymeer and beat up few passers-by.

Educational institutes across Azamgarh were shut down till further notice.

The violence was sparked off due to a minor spat between people of two communities late Saturday night and it spread to nearby areas on Sunday.

A circle officer, an SDM and over a dozen policemen were injured in the violence. Police had to fire blank shots in the air and tear gas shells were hurled at the unruly crowd.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Keshav Maurya has constituted a six-member probe team to visit the violence-hit regions and subit a report for further action.

The committee comprises former DGP Brij Lal, legislator Radha Mohan Das, MP Neelam Sonkar and former IG Rajesh Rai.

However, the team on way their way to the violence-hit area on Monday, were not allowed to go beyond Barabanki and were detained, state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told IANS.

He accused the government of being "casual in its approach towards such issues".

"There have been incidents in the past too where small incidents have flared up into major issues leading to loss of lives due," he added.

IANS