By Brij Khandelwal, IANS
Agra : The Taj Mahal was abruptly closed after large parts of Agra came under curfew Wednesday after a truck ploughed through Muslims celebrating a festival killing four men, sparking mob fury and police firing that left a young man dead and dozens injured in India’s top tourist destination.
After nearly eight hours of street battles and arson during which many parts of Agra resembled a battlefield, the authorities said the situation was “under control”. But Indian and foreign tourists were asked to stay put in hotels, amid warnings that tourist traffic would be badly hit for at least a fortnight.
The bulk of the injured, including two were in critical condition, were policemen who became the target of Muslims because their colleagues had wrongly allowed trucks to ply on a road where the Muslims were celebrating Shab-e-barat post midnight Wednesday.
The tragedy took place at 4 a.m. when a speeding truck ran into a Muslim crowd bursting firecrackers on Mahatma Gandhi Road, crushing four members of a family related to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The truck driver drove on, infuriating the Muslim crowds that gave chase. As the festivities came to a sudden halt, the revelry turned into fury.
The killer truck was eventually tracked to Sadar area and set on fire. In no time, mobs took over the streets attacking policemen and setting ablaze nearly a dozen trucks and a fire tender. Some shops and a small factory caught fire.
The mobs also stoned the outnumbered policemen, who threw back stones at the rioters. As a group of community leaders rushed to Nai ki Mandi area, the police station there was besieged.
The police used batons to disperse the mobs and fired tear gas. A 20-year-old man, Anwar, who was returning from a nursing home, was killed in police firing, witnesses said.
Panicky officials announced curfew in and around the Taj Mahal, and ordered the closure of the monument to love. All approach roads were closed.
“This has never, never happened before,” said Sandeep Arora, a leading hotelier of Agra. “Earlier, at least the VIP entrance to the Taj used to be kept open. Even that is closed now.”
The 17th century Taj Mahal is the country’s biggest tourist draw, and gets thousands of tourists every day. Some days over 30,000 people visit the monument on the banks of the now dried up river Yamuna.
A group of French tourists holed up in a hotel told IANS that they were terrified of the violence.
“My god, what is going on?” asked a group leader who identified herself as Jesus. “What’s going on? Will we be safe? When will be able to leave this city?”
Travel agencies and tour operators said the violence – and the closure of the Taj – would deal a terrible blow to the tourism industry of Agra.
“This will have an effect for at least 15 days,” said Prakash Agarwal, chairman of the Tourist Welfare Association. Rajiv Tiwari, president of the Federation of Travel Associations, agreed.
Additional District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela and Senior Superintendent of Police Hari Ram Sharma were among the injured. Residents complained that police took a long time to reach the violence-hit streets.
Police and paramilitary forces were rushed to the area, considered a communal tinderbox. A police official said a small mosque in the Nai ki Mandi area was damaged.
As fires from the burning trucks threatened to engulf Hindu homes, a near communal riot began with Hindu and Muslim mobs throwing stones at each other. But politicians from both communities quickly intervened to calm tensions.
Divisional Commissioner S.R. Meena later told reporters that the situation had been brought under control and that the “fires had been extinguished”.
Dozens of people injured in firing and stone pelting were admitted to the SN Medical College here.
District Magistrate Mukesh Meshram appealed to people to help in restoring peace. Political leaders, including Sushil Goyal of BSP, Sumit Vibhav of the Congress and Samajwadi Party’s Raisuddin, also made similar appeals.