Curfew relaxed in trouble-torn areas of Punjab

Day curfew was on Thursday lifted in Jalandhar, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, Malout and Ludhiana in Punjab following improvement in the situation in the areas hit by violence following the attack on a sect leader in Vienna.

All shops and other commercial establishments reopenend after three days in the trouble-torn regions of the state after lifting of day-time curfew, officials said.

Curfew has been relaxed till six pm.

Train and bus services have been restored, they said.

However, as a precautionary measure, educational institutions remained closed in the disturbed areas, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner A S Pannu said the body of slain Dera leader Sant Rama Nand will be flown from Vienna to Amritsar in a couple of days from where it will be taken to the sect's headquarters Ballan in Jalandhar district

While para-military forces have been sent back to the barracks, state police continue to be deployed in sensitive points in Jalandhar district, which was worst-hit by the violence

Twenty three people have been arrested across the state for indulging in arson.

Punjab witnessed large-scale violence and arson after followers of Sikh religious sect Dera Sachkhand Ballan took to the streets on Sunday night in protest against the attack on their leaders in a Vienna Gurudwara