Six people, including a local journalist, were killed in fresh clashes between members of two communities in the Kanwal area of Muzaffarnagar district on Saturday. Over two dozen have reportedly been injured in the violence.
Curfew has been imposed in the three police stations of the area and five companies each of the PAC and Rapid Action Force have been deployed. Over three dozen people have been arrested in connection with violence. The state government has formed a Special Task Force to probe into the incidents of violence in Kanwal village to ensure free and fair investigation. The government has announced a compensation of `five lakhs to the kin of the deceased persons and `50,000 each to the injured. For the journalist’s family , the state government has announ-ced a compensation of `10 lakhs. The journalist, Rajesh Verma, had gone to cover a Jat Panchayat being held in Naglabadhod in defiance of prohibitory orders to demand withdrawal of cases registered in connection with the August 27 violence. A photographer, whom the police had hired, was also beaten to death in Sekeda village by a group of people returning from the meeting. The area has seen communal tension since August 27, when a Muslim youth and two Jat men were murdered following a minor dispute on collision of two motorcycles. A Maha Panchayat convened by local khaps and village on Saturday had taken a stern view of the murder of the two youths and had demanded immediate release of all Hindus arrested in connection with violence after the August 27 incident. The Army has been moved to Muzaffarnagar district to help civil authorities.