Five shops were gutted on Wednesday as a group of persons resorted to violence after rumours of cow slaughtering in Lonni town near Ghaziabad, police said. Members of two communities clashed with each other and police had to resort to lathicharge to bring the situation under control, they said.
Following the incident, all markets in the town were closed.
According to Superintendent of Police (city) A K Vijeta, a calf had died due to infection two days ago and was mauled by dogs and other animals, as the post mortem report revealed. The incident sparked violence and a case of cow slaughter was registered. Some shops and other property were set on fire as the two communities resorted to violence.
The situation was brought under control and a case of arson was registered against 104 people. Police personnel have been deployed at sensitive points to prevent any untoward incident, Vijeta said. District Magistrate Hredesh Kumar, who visited the troubled area with S S P Raghubir Lal, said the situation has been brought under control and denied rumours of cow slaughtering.
