Tension prevailed in several parts of the city following reports of alleged desecration of a holy book, prompting authorities to impose curfew.
ALLAHABAD: Tension prevailed in several parts of the city following reports of alleged desecration of a holy book, prompting authorities to impose curfew in the affected areas.
Trouble began on Friday night when a mob attacked the Kareli Police Station alleging that copy of a holy book was found desecrated inside a place of worship, police said, adding that the rumours soon spread to other areas evoking similar outbursts.
Police resorted to lathi charge and fired in the air toquell the mob even as curfew was imposed in Kareli, Shahganj, Khuldabad, Kotwali and some parts of Dhoomanganj police station area to prevent further unrest, Divisional Commissioner P K Jha told.
At least 14 persons have been arrested in connection with the violence which left at least three police personnel injured, Inspector General of Police, Allahabad zone, A K D Dwivedi said.
Educational institutions across the city have been ordered closed for the day as a preventive measure, Jha added.
Heavy deployment of police as well as the Rapid Action Force has been made in the affected areas where the situation was tense but under control, he added.
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.
The injured police personnel have been admitted to a hospital where their condition was stated to be normal, he added.
Incidentally, Saturday's violence erupted in the volatile western part of the city which has of late witnessed an intense political rivalry between the Samajwadi Party and the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party.
The area has been a pocket borough of SP strongman and MP Atiq Ahmed who represented the Allahabad West assembly seat for five times in a row before his election to the Lok Sabha in 2004.
Ahmed had received a rude shock in the ensuing bye-polls, in which his brother Ashraf was defeated by BSP's Raju Pal, who was his former aide.
Pal was shot dead in broad daylight on January 25, 2005 and in the ensuing bye-election, Ashraf won the seat despite a strong sympathy wave in favour of Pal's newly-wed wife Puja Pal.
Puja, however, wrested back the seat from Ashraf defeating him by a huge margin of over 10,000 votes in the assembly polls held this year.
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