10,000 preventive arrests over Muzaffarnagar violence

Over 10,000 preventive arrests have taken place following the communal violence in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district which was calm for the third consecutive day Thursday, officials said.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arun Kumar said arrests were on and so far over 10,000 preventive arrests had been made till Wednesday.
As many as 2,000 licensed arms have been seized by the district administration and their licences cancelled.

"Things are looking up now and life is getting back to normal and no fresh case of violence has been reported," Kumar said.

Police officials are carrying out door-to-door checking to identify "any remnants of mobs" and have since confiscated a large amount of ammunition, including 41 cartridges of AK-47.

Muzaffarnagar district witnessed communal violence last weekend that left 38 people dead and compelled the authorities to call in the army.

With calm prevailing for the third consecutive day in Uttar Pradesh's violence-hit Muzaffarnagar district, authorities moved on to identifying the victims, their lost property and began work on rehabilitation.

Officials told IANS that till now their priority was to contain the communal violence  and the situation thereafter. But now their focus has shifted to ensuring proper and adequate supply of essential items, reopening of educational institutions and identifying the victims.

"The first half of the week has gone in controlling the violence, we are now focused on bringing life back to normal and the process of identifying people affected by the riots -- deaths, injuries, and loss to property be it home or commercial establishments," an official said.

Home Secretary Kamal Saxena said 10 shelter camps for the displaced in the riots have been set up in which roughly 10,000 people have taken refuge. The relaxation in curfew has also taken place, he added.