By IANS,
Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur town, under curfew since Oct 10 following communal riots, will get relief during the day Saturday, officials said Friday.
“Curfew would be relaxed for the whole day tomorrow (Saturday) since the situation is now fast returning to normal,” Burhanpur Collector Kerolin Khegwar Deshmukh said.
The decision was taken by the administration at a meeting Friday after no untoward incident was reported from any part of the town during the relaxation period.
“Curfew was relaxed for three hours, from 7 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. this morning and then again for two hours, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.,” Deshmukh said.
The communal tension in the town, over 300 km from here, began on Dussehra (Oct 9) night when some people pelted stones at a religious procession passing through the Gandhi Chowk area.
Nine people were killed in rioting that left more than 30 injured. Another person who was seriously injured was not able to reach the hospital during curfew Wednesday and died.
Over three dozen shops and half a dozen houses were torched in different parts of the town.
The town has been under curfew since then with short relaxations only for women and children to purchase essential commodities.
The main opposition, the Congress, and the Uma Bharati’s Bharatiya Janshakti have charged the Bharatiya Janata Party government and the local administration with hatching a conspiracy to divide the voters on communal lines.