Alert in 11 west UP districts in wake of Haryana violence

LUCKNOW The UP Police intensified vigil and issued an alert in 11 districts of western UP in wake of communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh district that claimed four lives and left several injured in the past three days, said officials here on Tuesday.

The alert was mainly issued for Mathura as Kosi Kalan and Barsana towns in this district share the border with Nuh. Other districts where alert was issued included Agra, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Hapur, Aligarh, Shamli and Gautam Buddh Nagar, said a senior police officer.

Special D-G (law and order) Prashant Kumar said the state police was already on alert during the ongoing Saawan month while vigil had been upped in sensitive districts in wake of Haryana violence, he said. Seven districts, including Saharanpur, Shamli, Baghpat, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Aligarh and Mathura share borders with Haryana.

ADG (Agra zone) Rajeev Krishna said mainly Mathura and Aligarh were sensitive due to the ongoing 84 Kosi Parikrama, the 297-km religious tour that also includes some areas of Haryana’s Mewat district.

“We are coordinating with Haryana police to ensure security has been intensified along the route,” he emphasized.

IG (Agra range) Deepak Kumar said the security had been intensified at Kotwan border in Mathura and traffic diversions were in place from that point. He said vehicles heading towards Kotwan border were diverted towards Delhi through different routes. Similarly, vigilance was upped in Firozabad and patrolling had been directed in sensitive areas.