The Uttar Pradesh administration has suspended the Station House Officer (SHO) of Fugana and arrested over 90 persons following the riots in Muzaffarnagar, where 28 people have died and more than three dozen were injured in communal violence over the weekend.
Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Law and Order Arun Kumar informed Monday that 35 more people have been arrested since Sunday, taking the total number of arrests to 90.
“90 arrests have been made and raids been conducted. One Inspector has been suspended. We are stopping the people from coming here,” said Kumar.
“Maximum (unwanted) incidents took place in Fugana. So, Fugana SHO has been placed under suspension,” he added.
Kumar, who confirmed that 28 people have lost their lives so far following the violence, further said that no untoward incident has been reported since last afternoon.
According to a television channel, four BJP MLAs and a former Congress MP have been booked for Muzaffarnagar riots.
Top officials, including Saharanpur Divisional Commissioner S K Srivastava, DIG D C Mishra and Meerut I G Brijbhushan, have been shunted out. Four IG-level officers have now been sent to Meerut, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Bagpat to control the situation.
The administration has issued shoot-at-sight orders, as the violence has spread to the rural areas. The violence spread to Baghpat district late last night, where one person was killed and four others injured.
The army staged the flag march and took over law and order responsibilities in the districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. The army has also been deployed in Meerut.
ADG Kumar, who is camping in Muzaffarnagar, said that an IG-level officer has been stationed in each nearby districts of Meerut, Shamli, Baghpat, Saharanpur and Bijnore to avert any unwanted incident.
Violence broke out in the Kawal area of Muzaffarnagar on Saturday when members of a community returning from a panchayat meeting in Naglabadhod, three kilometres from Kawal, clashed with members of another community. (ANI)