Curfew imposed on Udgir in the Latur district of Maharashtra, following violent clashes between two communities on Saturday, continued for the second day.
The state police control room told Deccan Herald that no fresh incident of violence or clash was reported throughout Sunday but the authorities had not decided on the issue of lifting the day-night curfew, as “the situation is still very, very tense.”
Police said additional forces from Latur district headquarters had been rushed to the town, located 550 km away far from Mumbai.
Delayed reports reaching here indicate that during a procession around 9 am on Saturday, elements from right-wing parties shouted provocative and derogatory slogans condemning the hoisting of a ”green flag” atop the Shahi Qila in town.
Local media said processionists comprising people allegedly from outfits like the Viswa Hindu Parshad, Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal, on reaching Muslim-dominated areas threw stones and smashed vehicles, shops and hotels.
Eye-witnesses told the local media that the processionists later went berserk, “vandalising everything in sight,” even “attacking children and women.”
Incidentally, sources said the processionists had spread rumours with regard to the ‘green flag’ fluttering atop the Shahi Qila but it was found that “there was no such flag.”
This is the second communal clash that the state is witnessing in three months. In January, six people died in a police firing in the power-loom town Dhule after riots broke out.