Curfew was on Monday lifted from all parts of riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, ten days after it was imposed, as the administration found the situation “conducive” for scaling down the high alert.
“The curfew has been removed from all areas of the district now. The situation is conducive and peaceful now. We also had VIP visits (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Prime Minister) and hence we took a decision in this regard. There will be no curfew from 7 pm today,” District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma told reporters here.
Night patrolling and intensified vigil will be on, he said, adding all schools in the district have opened and very soon a decision will be taken to de-induct Army columns which were out to maintain law and order.
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Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Praveen Kumar said vigil will not be let down and force level would remain the same in order to avoid any toward incident, adding liquor shops in the area will also have to shut compulsorily by 7 pm.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, visited the violence-hit areas and promised “strictest punishment” to the perpetrators.