The Samajwadi Party government on Sunday launched into damage-control mode as Meerut recovers from Saturday’s communal riots which left two dozen injured. The government has ordered a magisterial inquiry by Meerut District Magistrate Randeep Rinwa. Besides initiating confidence-building measures, authorities have beefed up security. Rapid Action Force and six companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have also been deployed. While no arrests were made, cases have been registered against 200 persons.
The Meerut district administration claimed the clashes broke out following a dispute over the construction of a water kiosk near a mosque in the Teergaran area of the old city. It soon spread to the Gudri Bazar area. The condition of three persons who sustained bullet wounds is said to be critical.
With the Samajwadi Party government yet to recover from the violence that rocked Muzaffarnagar last year, Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar Gupta and Director General of Police A.L. Banerjee air-dashed to Meerut on Sunday to review the situation. Mr. Gupta said the police picket system would be restored with immediate effect. He said pickets would be stationed at all the sensitive places in the city. The SP government had introduced the system in communally sensitive areas in 1987, in the wake of the Maliana violence.
