Curfew in Old City area of Hyderabad after clashes

An indefinite curfew was on Sunday clamped in some parts of the walled city in Hyderabad, following communal clashes over alleged desecration of a religious place.

At least five persons were injured in incidents of stabbing and stone-pelting involving members of two communities, police said.

Curfew was imposed in Madannapet and Saidabad in Old City and will continue till further orders, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy said.

Tension erupted in the morning following reports of alleged desecration of a religious place in Kurmaguda, wherein some devotees complained that they found "meat" and green-coloured water near a place of worship.

Enraged members of the community took out rallies that culminated in stone-pelting. As the news spread, members of other community too assembled in large numbers and also indulged into heavy brickbatting against each other and at houses in Kurmaguda besides the communally sensitive areas of Madannapet and Saidabad, thus prompting police to cane charge and burst of teargas shells to disperse marauding mobs.

"There are no deaths," Reddy, who visited the trouble-hit areas along with Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan and other senior police officers, said and appealed to  people to maintain communal harmony and not to fall prey to rumours.

Reddy said a massive drive was underway to arrest those responsible for the incident, adding, "We are picking up offenders and the situation is now peaceful and public are requested to pass on information on communal offenders who are holed up in these areas."

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy also reviewed the situation in Madannapet and Saidabad areas accompanied by Reddy, Commissioner of Police A K Khan, district collector N Gulzar and other senior officials and directed them to closely monitor the situation.

Miscreants also pelted stones on buses damaging glass-panes, besides setting on fire at least two vehicles, while two incidents of stabbing were also reported, police said.

Earlier, city police commissioner A K Khan said that the police were constantly reviewing the situation and keeping a close watch in sensitive areas by deploying additional forces.

As a precautionary measure and to prevent spreading of disturbance the police have imposed curfew, he said expressing hope that the situation will return to normalcy in  couple of days.

Khan warned that police will not hesitate to arrest leaders if they found to be indulged in instigation or spreading unrest and added that so far the police have picked up some persons for questioning.

Reacting to a query, Khan said those appearing for SSC and other examinations will be allowed to reach the exam centres in the curfew-hit areas.

Following the communal disturbances, shops and commercial establishments downed their shutters in parts of Old City even as police barricaded the roads in the sensitive areas.

It was after a gap of two years that authorities have imposed curfew in the communal sensitive Old City. Curfew remained in place for several days in parts of Hyderabad in March 2010 after members of two communities clashed over erecting a religious flag even as three members of a community were killed in the clashes that left several injured.