Allahabad communal clash: 6 injured

ALLAHABAD: Clash between two communities over a stabbing took an ugly turn when relatives of the victim, who were blocking traffic near Patel Crossing in Karma Bazar township under Ghurpur police station jurisdiction of the district to protest the crime, turned violent and clashed with the police on Friday afternoon.
Over half a dozen people, including two policemen, were injured in the violence and police had to fire in the air to disperse the mob.

SP (Trans-Yamuna) D K Chaudhary told TOI, "Six persons from both the sides, including the stabbing accused, have been arrested. The situation is now under control." "We are trying to identify those who triggered the violence. Stern action will be taken against them," he added. The trouble started on Thursday evening when one Dharmendra Patel caught two persons of another community on charges of stealing hey. Dharmendra allegedly slapped one of them.

Road blocked after Allahabad stabbing

On Friday morning, when Dharmendra was sitting at his tea shop, four or five people of the other community approached him and a heated argument ensued. Later, one of them, Nadeem, allegedly stabbed Dharmendra and escaped along with his accomplices.

When family members and neighbours of Dharmendra came to know about the stabbing, they reportedly rushed towards the house of the accused. In the meantime, the news spread like wildfire in the area and scores of people from both the sides clashed and indulged in heavy brickbatting. Two shops were also gutted in the clash.

Receiving information of the clash, senior police authorities along with administrative officials rushed to the spot and chased away the agitators. This time, the police managed to bring the situation under control.

However, the SP claimed, later a group of people blocked traffic near Patel crossing as protest against the stabbing. Before the police could pacify them and take action against accused, the mob started throwing stones on police injuring two policemen.

The police then opened fire in the air and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the mob. The brick battling between the mob and police continued fore more than 20 minutes.

The condition of Dharmendra, undergoing treatment at a city hospital, was stated to be stable.