Rioters allowed free run for a day

NEW DELHI: The UP government delayed in clamping curfew in Muzaffarnagar city after riots broke out, a senior Union home ministry official has said.

Even after declaring curfew last Saturday evening, the state police did not stop flow of traffic between villages till Sunday. This allowed rioters to move freely from village to village and escape after causing mayhem, the official said.

Traffic Stopped after Central Intervention The senior MHA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Monday it was only after prodding by Home Secretary Anil Goswami that the state government clamped curfew late on September 7 evening. It stopped vehicular movement in the rural areas of Muzaffarnagar district only the following day.

“Reports that reached the Centre on Sunday said that minority members in Kutvi Kupda village of Muzaffarnagar district were attacked by people who mostly did not belong to that village. With such reports coming from other villages, it became apparent that rioters were moving from village to village.