Muzaffarnagar peaceful, curfew relaxed

The situation in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district and its adjoining areas, where 47 people died in communal clashes, was peaceful on Saturday, officials said. The curfew was relaxed for 12 hours.

Security personnel are maintaining tight vigil as the situation was still tense in rural areas.

Curfew was also relaxed Friday for 12 hours. There were no reports of any untoward incident during this period. On Saturday, the relaxation will be from 7 am to 7 pm.

Around 40,000 people have taken refuge in more than 30 relief camps set up in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts. People at the camps said they were not sure of the security situation and were not ready to return to their hometowns.

The administration has distributed medicines, food and milk packets among other essential items at the relief camps.

The situation in Muzaffarnagar was fast returning to normal, said Special Task Force Director General Ashish Gupta.

The toll has been highest in Muzaffarnagar (38) while the other deaths were reported from Shamli (3), Saharanpur (1), Baghpat (3) and Meerut (2).

So far 11,000 people have been placed under preventive detention, while 187 have been arrested and 11 of them have cases of murder slapped against them, a home department official said.