Then suddenly, the tide turned. As news of a stabbing and stone-throwing in Mirzapur spread, an unknown fear gripped the locality. Even before the stinging fumes of the teargas shells that were lobbed to dispel crowds could clear, shutters had started coming down. Residents rushed to the safety of their homes, doors were shut and bolted, windows closed, vehicles drove off petrol pumps and headed towards Nehru Bridge for a safe passage into the new city and the tea vendor packed, threw a tarpaulin sheet over his goods and sought refuge in a nearby office.

Within minutes, the hustle and bustle was gone. In its stead there was silence, deserted lanes and a naked fear. Behind the majestically looming `darwazas' that guard it from all sides, the walled city had become a ghost town. Those on the streets were told by worried inhabitants to hurry home and get out of the area fast. Autorickshaws were quick to offer pedestrians a lift out and St Xavier's School shut its wide gates, offering sanctuary to women and children who were on the roads nearby.

Banks were closed and life came to a near standstill with schools not allowing children to leave the premises even after the gong had sounded. In the narrow claustrophobic lane of Dhobi Ka Khacha, miscreants had flung kerosene inside Shabir Bhai's house through the grills of the door and had set a match to it. Luckily the blaze was noticed and doused before it could cause any damage. Angry residents from both communities who have been staying together for 40 years surrounded a nearby police van to register the complaint only to be chased back into the lane with lathis.

Husain Bhai has broad welts on his back to show for the lathicharge while washerwoman Champa has been hit in the foot. They watched from behind the narrow iron gate of the entrance to their colony as the streets filled up with the men of the State Reserve Police and police vans started doing the rounds of the area.

After yesterday's stabbing in which a young boy was killed at the Mirzapur bus stand, nerves have become collectively frayed and even a rumour is enough to spark panic amongst residents of both communities.