Toll rises to 10 in Burhanpur violence

BURHANPUR: A day after communal violence rocked the town, the situation remained tense but under control on Saturday even as the toll mounted to ten with five bodies recovered from a religious place here.

Five bodies including a woman were recovered from a religious place in Virodha village, where they had taken shelter following the violence on Friday, police said.

Two more persons succumbed to their injuries from the Government Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital in Indore today, they said adding the deceased have been identified as Rakesh Shukla (40)and Deepak Bhavsar (30), one an auto driver while another a truck driver.

Three persons were killed in police firing and 22 persons including four policemen were injured in stone pelting yesterday.

However, District Collector K L Khangwar told reporters that the situation in the area was fully under control and there was no report of any untoward incident during the curfew period.

So far 142 persons have been arrested while around 24 injured are being treated in the district hospital, he said.

Violence broke out during a religious procession at Mandavmal Chouraha in Budhwara locality when a sound system mounted on a vehicle fell, police said adding the tension gripped the area as people belonging to the two communities started pelting stones on each other over the incident.

Police issued shoot-at-sight orders to control the situation after an enraged mob allegedly set afire shops and four houses over the dispute.

Senior officials including Inspector General (IG) Anil Kumar, Deputy Inspector General G Janardhan among others were camping in the town to keep an eye on the situation.