20 held for Naseerpur communal clash

One person died and over a dozen were injured in the violence triggered by a petty fight

The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested 20 people on charges of murder and rioting after communal violence rocked Naseerpur village in Muzaffarnagar on Monday.

One person was killed and over a dozen were injured in the violence that was triggered by a petty fight over overflowing water from a sewage line. The Naseerpur violence is the second such incident in less than a week in the district. On Saturday, hundreds of agitated villagers of Sherpur clashed with the police and burnt their vehicles after rumours of cow slaughter spread in the area.

Twenty-two-year-old Akash died of a gun shot injury in the Naseerpur violence. Three hundred people have been booked.

According to the police, Iqbal was on his way to the local mosque on Monday when he got into an argument with one Brijpal over an over flowing drain. The issue was sorted out in the afternoon at a meeting of the village elders, who persuaded them to arrive at a compromise. But by the evening, the issue flared up again and led to a violent clash in which people attacked each other with firearms and stones. Brijpal and his son Akash were injured in the firing. Akash succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.

Village head arrested

The police arrested the Naseerpur village head, Sabir on Thursday after he was named in an FIR filed by Brijpal. Sabir, however, told

The Hindu that he had nothing to do with the clash. “I had organised a

panchayat, where the village elders brought about a compromise between Iqbal and Brijpal. But the same evening, they started fighting once again,” he said.

Superintendent of Police (city) Muzaffrnafar Rakesh Kumar Singh told The Hindu that paramilitary forces and Provincial Armed Constabulary had been deployed in the village and the situation was “under control.”

Many fled

Many Muslim families have reportedly fled the area fearing retaliation after an angry mob, despite the police deployment, set the house of a person accused of firing at Akash.

BJP leaders, including Union Minister and the local MP Sanjeev Baliyan, met the family of Akash on Wednesday. They also talked on the phone to Chief Minister Adityanath, who they said had agreed to ensure that the victim’s family was granted ₹20 lakh in compensation and a government job for one of its members.