Lucknow, May 29
The murder of a shopkeeper near the Hathiwala bridge in Aligarh late last night has triggered a fresh wave of communal violence. A mob lynched two persons and injured at least 13. Indefinite curfew has been imposed on five police station areas.
This is the third consecutive murder of a shopkeeper in the last week. On May 23, Raju samosewalla, succumbed to injuries suffered by gunshots two days earlier. Two days ago, another local halwai, Raman Gupta, had been murdered. All three had been jailed and released on bail for their reported involvement in last month’s communal violence in the city.
Describing the situation in the city as tense but under control, Home Secretary S.K. Aggarwal said three additional companies of the RAF had been rushed to the city. Additional Director-General (Law and Order) Padam Singh and IG Kanpur Zone Rizwan Ahmad were present on the spot.
What started the violence was the news of the killing of the shopkeeper and member of the trader union, 45-year old Om Prakash Gupta, as he stepped out of his grocery shop at around 8.30 pm yesterday.
