Communal tension in Agra, situation calm now

Tension prevailed in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district on Friday after some religious comments on social media led to violence between two communities. The situation was calm now, police said.

Police said a Facebook group had posted some material described as biased and highly provocative by members of another community. The Facebook group coordinator was roughed up on Thursday by those objecting to the posted material, leading to a clash in Shamshabad town, 30 km from here.

Police then resorted to lathicharge and fired rubber bullets to disperse the clashing mob. More than a dozen people, including three policemen, were injured.

Additional forces had been rushed to beef up security in the town and prevent trouble spilling over in the rural areas, as reports suggested that tempers were rising high and communal elements had begun mobilising the villagers for a showdown.

Inspector General of Police, Agra zone, D.C. Mishra, the deputy inspector general, district magistrate and other senior officials spent several hours on Saturday to diffuse tension and work for restoring normalcy at the earliest.

Senior Superintendent of Police Rajest D. Modak appealed on FM radio to people not to pay heed to rumours and maintain peace at all costs.

Meanwhile, Fatehpur Sikri MP Choudhary Babu Lal of the Bharatiya Janata Party was prevented from entering troubled Shamshabad town.

A flag march was organised on Saturday afternoon and several companies of Rapid Action Force and the state police's Provincial Armed Constabulary were deployed.