E-Paper
Curfew imposed in city following violence
Trouble began on Friday night following stone-pelting by an agitated mob over the desecration of a holy book.
Curfew was imposed in the volatile old city area in Allahabad on Saturday following stone-pelting by an agitated mob over the alleged desecration of a holy book, resulting in injuries to more than a dozen policemen.
The trouble began late on Friday night in Kareli police station area where a holy book was allegedly found desecrated inside a place of worship, police said.
Hearing the report, an angry crowd gheraoed the police station where they were given the assurance that the culprits would be brought to book "as soon as possible", police said.
However, the assurance failed to pacify the agitated mob, who began raising slogans against the police and pelted stones at the police station.
Senior police officials, including IG (Zone) AKD Dwivedi, DIG (Range) Abhay Kumar Prasad, outgoing SSP KS Prabhat Kumar besides Divisional Commissioner PK Jha and District Magistrate Ashish Goyal rushed to the spot, where the stone-pelting continued for about an hour, resulting in injuries of two Sub-Inspectors of Police and damage to several vehicles, police added.
Police resorted to lathi charge and fired in the air to disperse the mob and a heavy deployment of police and provincial armed constabulary was made in the area after the situation was brought under control.
Forces were also rushed to localities in Shahganj and Kotwali Police Station areas from where similar outbreaks of violence were reported.
Later, curfew was clamped on Kareli, Shahganj, Kotwali, Khuldabad, Atarsuiya and parts of Dhoomanganj Police Station areas. Educational institutions across the city were ordered closed for the day as a precautionary measure, police said.
Five companies of Rapid Action Force were pressed into service and additional security personnel have been brought in from other districts to deal with any emergency, IGP AKD Dwivedi said. The injured police personnel have been admitted to a hospital where their condition was stated to be normal, he added.
