Curfew relaxed for 11 hours in Bareilly

Bareilly, March 17 : Curfew was relaxed in Bareilly Wednesday for 11 hours as the Uttar Pradesh town limped towards normalcy after a serious bout of communal violence, authorities said.

It was the third relaxation since curfew was imposed two weeks ago.

"As peaceful situation prevails in Bareilly, we have decided to relax the curfew for 11 hours," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Bareilly Range) Rajiv Sabharwal told IANS.

"It was relaxed for eight hours Tuesday. Now, the relaxation has been extended to 5 p.m.," he said.

Asked when the curfew would be lifted, Sabharwal said: "We are reviewing the situation at regular intervals. We hope to be in a position to take a decision soon."

The authorities are focussing on Kila, Prem Nagar, Subhashnagar, Baradari and Kotwali areas of Bareilly where communal clashes were reported.

The violence surged after the arrest of Muslim cleric Maulana Tauquir Raza Khan, president of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council.

Khan was accused of giving a "rabble rousing speech" that led to communal violence, police said.

A police officer said no violence had been reported since Friday evening when at least 15 people, including a senior police officer, were injured in clashes with protesters.

All educational institutions have been shut for two weeks. The schools and colleges were likely to reopen March 22, Sabharwal said.

A minor communal clash followed by sporadic arson March 2 led the district administration to clamp curfew in several parts of Bareilly.