The trouble began at around 9.30 a.m. when the police were taking three of the four accused -- all members of the minority community -- to their homes. District superintendent of police Vivek Shrivastava said one accused was arrested last night and two others early this morning.

The accused were allegedly beaten up by the police and by a mob trailing the police party from the police station. Eyewitnesses say the mob was egging on the police to give the accused a thrashing in public to teach them a lesson. However, this provoked a reaction from residents of the area, and a 100-strong group gathered near Jivamiyan-ni-chawl and threw stones at the police.

The mob following the party retaliated, forcing the police to fire in the air. Some members of the mob ran through the adjacent lane setting fire to, and damaging, property belonging to the accused. About half a dozen persons, including a sub inspector, were injured in the stone pelting.

Family members of the accused claimed that the three were beaten up at different places. Though the accused were already bleeding they were beaten up more at the instance of the public, they alleged. They also said they had been living in fear ever since the rape occurred.

The town observed a total bandh following a call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, whose activists held a dharna last night outside the police station in protest against police inaction. The VHP had given the police an ultimatum to arrest the criminals by 9 p.m. on Sunday or face protest.

Responding to charges that VHP activists were involved in this morning's incidents, the police said they had followed the police party ``out of curiosity.'' And asked whether the accused had been beaten up by anyone other than the police, senior officials said ``the nature of crime was such anybody could have acted that way''.

By evening, the police had arrested 21 persons in connection with Monday's incidents. Range IG D D Tuteja also visited the town and extra policemen have been deployed there. Tuteja denied that the arrests had been made only after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had taken up the issue.

Family members of the accused insist that the VHP and Bharatiya Janata Party took up the issue only because members of a particular community were involved. Also, the fourth accused, against whom no complaint has so far been lodged, is a local Youth Congress and community leader.

BJP's local tribal cell president Manubhai Vasava admitted, in fact, that similar incidents in the past but never received this much attention. ``The victim's parents lodged a police complaint only after we assured them support'', local BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastava told Express Newsline.