The Congress on Sunday demanded an independent investigation by a sitting High Court judge into the communal clashes that broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj city two days earlier.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said the mismanagement by the Uttar Pradesh government and the local administration caused the clashes. “How did this happen, who did it?” he asked at a press briefing on Sunday. “The truth will come out only when an independent judicial probe is conducted by a sitting high court judge.”
Tiwari asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “When will you apprehend the culprits and give them exemplary punishment?”
The city has been on edge since Friday, with reports of violence and arson all through Saturday. The police have so far arrested 49 people in connection with acts of arson allegedly committed by people returning from the cremation of a man killed in Friday’s clashes. Authorities have also suspended internet services till 10 pm on Sunday.
The clashes on Friday broke out after residents of the Muslim-dominated locality of Baddu Nagar in Kasganj arranged chairs on the road and were getting ready to unfurl the tricolour, and workers of Hindu outfits reached the area and allegedly demanded that the chairs be removed to make way for their bikes.
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