Curfew relaxed for 6 hours at stretch for first time in MP's Khargone

For the first time in the last 11 days, the curfew in Madhya Pradesh's riot-hit Khargone city was relaxed for six hours in one go on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The local administration has been relaxing the curfew every day either in the morning or in two shifts since April 14, but this is for the time when the relaxation is granted from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesday.

In the past couple of days, the curfew was relaxed in two shifts from 8 am to 12 noon and from 3 pm to 5 pm as the situation improved in the city.

The curfew was clamped after communal clashes erupted in Khargone city on Ram Navami on April 10 during which shops and houses were damaged, vehicles torched and stones hurled.

On Wednesday, post offices and banks will be allowed to remain open during the relaxation of curfew. Vehicles will not be allowed on roads and only the stores selling milk, vegetables, medicines, and barber's shops among others are allowed to remain open.

A government order (GO) said that people can purchase essential items from shops located in their neighbourhood as vehicles are not allowed on roads.

Petrol pumps will remain closed and the sale of kerosene will remain suspended at the fair price shops, it added.

Police have so far arrested 153 people and 65 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered in connection with the communal violence, a police officer had said.