Communal violence rocks Muzaffarnagar

Over a dozen people, including a child, were injured when members of two communities clashed at Walipura village in the communally sensitive Muzaffarnagar district, about 500 km from here.

At least three of the injured were stated to be in a critical condition. The situation was stated to be tense and a huge posse of security personnel has been deployed to maintain law and order.

Senior officials were trying to defuse the situation by holding meetings with the elders from both communities. Walipura has a mixed population. The trouble sparked off on Sunday night a day after a tense standoff between members of two communities over loudspeakers at Khediviran village in the district.

Members of the two communities had come face-to-face after some people forced the priest of the village temple to switch off the loudspeaker.

The two communities reportedly fired at each other and used sharp-edged weapons. The police managed to control the situation by making a baton charge, reports said.