Nearly 20 shops were torched by mobs in old area of communal strife-hit Bareilly on Saturday, despite curfew being clamped in most of the city even as authorities rushed additional forces and a helicopter to rein in the spiralling violence.
Closure of all the educational institutes has been ordered and government has provided a helicopter to police for aerial monitoring in the trouble-hit areas, official sources said, adding curfew will not be relaxed till the situation normalises.
Defying curfew, members of a community torched around 20 shops in Qutubkhana sabzi mandi, one of the oldest markets in the city, this afternoon, police said, adding fire tenders were rushed to the sites.
Curfew has been clamped in five of the six police stations areas in the city.
"After large scale violence in which nearly 20 people, including an Superintendent of Police and some other policemen were injured, curfew has been extended in Subhsh Nagar police area. The situation is tense but under control," sources said.
Heavy force has been deployed across the city to avert further trouble.
"Fresh re-enforcement is being done in the trouble-hit areas of the city to control the situation," the sources said.
Nine officers including Public Affairs Centre commandant Jyoti Narain, four additional superintendents and 4 deputy superintendents had already airdashed to Bareilly.
Protesting against the release of cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, arrested earlier on charges of inciting mob which led to communal clashes early this month, members of a community indulged in arson and brick batting in Sanjay Nagar and Subhash Nagar localities on Friday.
The rampaging mob defied curfew in four police station areas including Prem Nagar, Qila, Baradari and Kotwali.
In a bid to control the protesters, police used tear gas shells and fired rubber bullets.
