Panic-stricken people continue to flee UP dists

While the situation in riot-torn Muzaffarnagar may be returning to normal, panic-stricken people continue to flee their homes in villages and from several adjoining districts.

Though the administration as well as a few good samaritans have been trying their best to persuade the people not to leave their homes, their efforts remain unsuccessful, reports say. According to police sources here, thousands of people have fled their villages and taken shelter at places like police stations or homes of relatives. “These people are not ready to return as they fear for their lives,” a police official told Deccan Herald.

Around 3,000 people, including residents of several villages in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, have taken shelter in “safe” villages in the neighbouring Baghpat district. “Many families have shifted to Delhi,” officials said.

In a mass exodus, hundreds of people left Ramala, Kandera, Soop, Bawali and other villages for safer areas.

Such reports have also come from several villages in Meerut district, sources said. “Exodus has taken place mainly in the villages with mixed population,” officials pointed out.

Large-scale exodus has been especially challenging for the authorities. “It will be very difficult to bring them back to their homes in the very near future,” remarked a senior official here. Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed for five hours on Wednesday and the situation was under control and no untoward incident was reported
Communal flare up at Muzaffarnagar had spread to rural areas and a majority of the deaths are from clashes in villages.

Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma also admitted that the violence had spread to the rural areas in the adjoining districts of Meerut, Shamli, Baghpat, Bulandshahar and Saharanpur.