Protesters took to the streets after a slaughtered animal was found outside a religious place in Sahukara Naugaon area in Bareilly on Thursday morning. Police had to resort to lathicharge to control the rioting mob. Though the western U.P. town did not see any communal clashes, the situation was tense and affected other parts of the city. Two companies of PAC were deployed to control the situation as the city remained on edge even on Friday.
Residents in Bareilly alleged that the police failed to take any action despite the incident being the third in two weeks. An infuriated crowd blocked traffic on the Bareilly-Delhi highway for several hours after which the police had to intervene.
Later, local BJP leaders also protested, demanding the arrest of culprits. Police registered an FIR against unidentified persons for defiling the religious place. About 400 people, including local BJP leaders, were also booked for rioting and obstructing police from doing their duty.
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DIG R. K. S. Rathore said the police have formed teams to nab the culprits who were trying to vitiate the atmosphere. The incident is the latest in a series of communally provocative episodes in different parts of western U.P. that have kept the region on the boil.
The Bareilly incident comes two days after a controversy over a Facebook post against a particular religion had led to people protesting on the streets in Deoband.
Just a few days before that, a controversy over the route of a procession during Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday celebrations of Prophet Mohammad, in Agra last week led to communal clashes.
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