Shops and a tazia were set on fire in Gonda and Balia districts of Uttar Pradesh during Muharram observance, triggering communal tension. A brawl involving two persons sparked stone-throwing and burning of a few shops at Cahalhari in Gonda, the district’s Additional Superintendent of Police Malik Chandra Saroj said. In Balia, a tazia was allegedly burnt at Chilbara, which flared communal tension in the area, said Additional Superintendent of Police Mahatma Prasad.

Even as tension in Midnapore in West Bengal evened out after imposition of prohibitory orders following clashes in the morning between two groups over the route of a Muharram procession, curfew had to be clamped in the Chak Kasi area of Howrah district in the state when a similar clash resulted in several residences and shops being set on fire. Senior police officers said the incident took place in Chak Kasi Bazar in Gaus Colony under the Bauria police station at around 5.30 pm. District Magistrate Khalil Ahmed said the police had to use tear gas to disperse the mob. The police said a huge contingent had been deployed in the area, including the district combat force and the Rapid Action Force.

Meanwhile in Srinagar, the police detained 20 persons and virtually sealed the heart of the city to foil attempts by the Shia community to take out a Muharram procession defying prohibitory orders. However, massive processions were taken out in other parts of the Valley amid tight security.