Haryana Violence: Alert Issued in 11 Districts Of UP

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday issued a high alert in 11 districts of western UP amid the communal violence in Haryana's Nuh district. Meanwhile, 4000 cops have been deployed in Faridabad to control the situation.

The alert was mainly issued for Mathura as Kosi Kalan and Barsana towns in this district share the border with Nuh. Other districts where the alert was issued included Agra, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Hapur, Aligarh, Shamli and Gautam Buddh Nagar, said a senior police officer.

Special D-G (law and order) Prashant Kumar asserted that vigilance had been increased in sensitive districts. Seven districts, including Saharanpur, Shamli, Baghpat, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Aligarh and Mathura share borders with Haryana.

ADG (Agra zone) Rajeev Krishna said mainly Mathura and Aligarh were sensitive due to the ongoing 84 Kosi Parikrama, the 297-km religious tour that also includes some areas of Haryana's Mewat district.

IG (Agra range) Deepak Kumar said the security had been intensified at Kotwan border in Mathura and traffic diversions were in place from that point. He said vehicles heading towards Kotwan border were diverted towards Delhi through different routes. Similarly, vigilance was upped in Firozabad and patrolling had been directed in sensitive areas.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government imposed Section 144 in Gurugram and Nuh in response to the clashes. Educational institutions in Gurugram, Faridabad, and Palwal were ordered to remain closed on Tuesday due to the violence.

Earlier, 200 men on motorbikes and SUVs targeted and vandalised 14 shops in the main market, primarily those selling biryani and other food items. Additionally, seven stores were set on fire in Sector 66.