Clashes between communities over use of loudspeaker in Rampur

A row erupted over the use of loudspeaker at a religious place in Rampur where members of two communities pelted stones at each other and opened fire in the air before agreeing to an amicable solution.

The incident has come just days after BJP workers and policemen clashed with each other in Moradabad after the party called for a mahapanchayat - in defiance of state orders banning it - over the removal of a loudspeaker from a temple. The clash in Mukutpur area of the district's Tanda town broke out last evening after members of one of the communities complained that the loudspeaker installed at the religious place of the other was disturbing them from performing their prayers, Superintendent of Police Sadhana Goswami said.

Goswami confirmed the incident of stone-pelting between the two communities and said some of them had opened fire in the air to disperse the mob. "No one was injured," she said. Police said the aggrieved community approached the administrative officials of Tanda yesterday to apprise them of the issue and demanded that the use of loud speaker be banned. Following this, the officials convened a meeting which was attended by members of both the communities and the matter was resolved.

"The entire exercise was managed late last night by Additional District Magistrate Markandey Singh and ASP Devesh Pandey. Security forces have been deployed to keep a strict vigil on the situation in the troubled area," District Magistrate CK Tripathi said. Contingents of police and PAC have been deployed in the area here to prevent any untoward incident.