15-year-old boy dies in Rampur communal clashes

Tension continued to prevail in Kupgaon village of Rampur on Thursday following the death of a 15-year-old boy in communal clashes. The violence started with a minor incident of grazing of cattle in somebody else's field.

Cattle belonging to a member of the majority community were grazing in the field of a member of the minority community on Wednesday afternoon, leading to a scuffle between the members of the two communities. Villagers Jitendra Singh and Raju Singh sustained severe injuries in the fight.

Later in the evening the members of the minority community opened fire at the religious site of the other community. Amidst firing, Sanju Rathore, 15, sustained bullet injuries on his neck and died on the way to hospital.

Three policemen, including Station House Officer Tejpal Singh, Constables Kehar Singh and Pradeep Kumar, have been suspended for not taking any timely action to defuse tension.

The police have arrested Mohammad Altaf for indiscriminately opening fire on the members of the Rathore community and killing the boy. Cases have also been registered against Umar Ali, Mohammad Istqam and two others.

Mahendra Singh Rathore, father of the deceased alleged that some people had instigated the minority community on a loudspeaker from a local religious place.

"They were asking the people come out of their houses and take revenge against those who had left their herds in the field. Within no time, hundreds of people came out carrying fire arms. Things would have been in control had nobody instigated the crowd to resort to violence," he alleged.

Vijay Singh Meena, Inspector General of Bareilly zone, who rushed to the spot said, "We are alert to check any backlash of the incident. The main culprit has been arrested."

A large number of police and para-military force have been deployed in the village. Many people have left the village fearing more violence.