Mosque blast, Punjab violence: alert sounded across UP

LUCKNOW: An alert has been sounded across Uttar Pradesh in the wake of bomb explosion at a mosque in Hyderabad and violence between Sikhs and Dera Sachcha Sauda in Punjab.

In a letter to all district magistrates and police chiefs, the state government asked them to ensure public life was not disturbed and communal amity maintained at all cost, Secretary (Home) R M Srivastava told reporters here.

The intelligence machinery has been asked to gear up to prevent communal and sectarian violence, he said adding officials were asked to maintain strict vigil in and around religious places, especially gurudwaras.

Asked whether the state had received any advisory from the Centre, Srivastava said no specific advisory was received in past few days.

A Bahraich report said police and intelligence sleuths were put on high alert on Indo-Nepal border and bordering districts of Uttar Pradesh following the explosion in Mecca mosque in Hyderabad.

The police was asked to step up vigil in the areas having a mixed population to check rumour-mongering, DIG of Devi Patan Range Sanjay M Tarde said.

Special vigil has been ordered to check any misadventure by anti-national and criminal elements by exploiting the situation on the porus border here, Tarde said.

Orders were to screen the people crossing the border and interrogate them whenever required, he said adding patrolling was ordered in villages and small townships along the border.

Police stations have been asked to take pre-emptive steps to ward off rumour mongering specially in areas having mixed population, Tarde said.

The DIG said so far there had been no report of any untoward incident from any part of the range and these orders have been issued only as a precautionary measure.