Saharanpur village tense after May 5 violence, but situation under control

Police has arrested 17 people so far for their involvement in the clash, vandalism, arson and gunfire.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Subhash Chandra Dubey told UNI that the situation was under control even as additional police forces have been deployed in the area. He said that 17 people from both sides have been arrested so far and more are likely to be nabbed soon.

According to police reports, a large number of members of a community were going to Shilkana village to celebrate the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap. A few people of the Shabbirpur village and from the same community were also leaving for Shilkana in a procession. While they were passing through a locality of other community, the residents there objected to loud music being played by them on DJ.

This led to an altercation between the two and members of one community allegedly became violent and resorted to stone pelting. As soon as news of the violence spread to nearby villages, hundreds of members of the other community swooped down on the locality and, in retaliation, torched more than 20 homes and belongings of them.

This further worsened the situation as stone pelting and gunfire began from both sides resulting in injuries to more than a dozen people.

Almost the entire police force of the district, along with senior officials of the Police Department and Administration, including the District Magistrate, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), SSP, SP (rural) and others rushed to the spot.

Sumit Pal (21) had succumbed to the bullet injuries during the violence.

The incident has happened exactly two weeks after violence at Sadak Dudhali village in which several had got injured over a Yatra, which led to an attack on the then SSP's residence.