LUCKNOW: An uneasy calm prevailed in the trouble-torn Lakhimpur Kheri—165 km from the state capital Lucknow—on Friday after curfew was clamped following a communal flare-up in the Terai district on late Thursday night.
As the district administration relaxed the curfew for three hours from 3 pm to 6 pm, a mob started pelting stones at the police while resorting to sloganeering against a community. The police contingent used mild force to disperse the miscreants.
In view of the emerging situation, 14 police stations of adjoining Pilibhit district were also put on high alert to check the spread of the flare-up.
“We are keeping a strict round-the-clock vigil on the situation which is tense but under control. No untoward incidents have occurred since last night,” says SP Manoj Jha. Authorities were also keeping an eye on social media, said a senior police official.
Meanwhile, all schools and colleges closed in the city till further orders. Senior police and district administrative officers including divisional commissioner, IG zone and DIG, took a round of the city to assess the situation on Friday morning.
With almost half the police strength of the district out on election duty, the authorities rushed extra forces from adjoining districts to the city late Thursday night to control the situation.
Making an appeal for peace and harmony, Lakhimpur Kheri DM Akashdeep cautioned the local people against rumour mongers and issued a warning to the trouble-makers of dire consequences if they tried to incite violence. District Judge Rajbeer Singh ordered to close Kheri Civil Court till the curfew was in force.