Curfew relaxed in tense Jamshedpur after communal clashes

Curfew was relaxed for four hours on Wednesday afternoon in parts of this Jharkhand steel city where paramilitary troops had to stage a flag march following clashes over some youths harassing a girl from another community.

Trouble started on Monday evening when a group of armed youths on three motorcycles allegedly teased a girl near the Gandhi Maidan area of the city, which is chief minister Raghubar Das’s hometown.

The incident triggered violent clashes as protesters burnt vehicles, threw stones at each other and damaged property, prompting the administration to impose curfew on Tuesday and move in paramilitary forces to restore order.

More than 30 people, including policemen and officers, were wounded in the violence and more than 100 protesters from both communities have been arrested, police said.

The authorities on Wednesday decided to relax the curfew in some areas which showed signs of normality, although the situation remained tense.

The worst-affected Mango, Olidih, Azadnagar and MGM police station areas continued to witness heavy deployment of ITBP, CRPF and Jharkhand police personnel, who did a flag march on Tuesday and set up armed pickets in streets and alleys.

“Curfew will be in force in the entire city from 5pm till further orders. We’re reviewing the situation every hour,” Jamshedpur deputy commissioner Amitabh Kaushal said.

Police said no untoward incident was reported on Wednesday in the city which looked like a ghost town because of the curfew.

Barring emergency services such as hospitals, everything remained closed and the city was declared a no-entry zone for heavy vehicles. Kolhan University’s BA Part 2 examinations scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday have been cancelled, too.