Communal tension grips Poonch after vehicles set afire

Tension gripped the border town of Poonch after members of a community torched vehicles belonging to another community during an encroachment drive, police said.

Tension gripped the border town of Poonch after members of a community torched vehicles belonging to another community during an encroachment drive, police said.

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The trouble rose when government land was being vacated by a team of district officials, police and village defence committee members in Kunaya village in Poonch district late last night, they said.

During the drive, over 200 members of a community pelted stones at the team and raised religious slogans, they said.

The mob also hurled stones on houses belonging to a particular community and burnt several motorcycles triggering tension, they said.

Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area to bring the situation under control.