UP riots: 40 lives lost in 3 days; curfew eased

• Mulayam defends Akhilesh government
• PM announces Rs 2 lakh each for deceased
• CM warns strict action against those guilty
• BJP has no role in UP violence: Venkaiah

Muzaffarnagar/Lucknow (PTI): Curfew was relaxed for two hours in three areas of trouble-hit Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh even as the death toll in the clashes in the district and adjoining towns climbed to 40. With no reports of any fresh violence, curfew was eased for two hours from 3.30 pm in Kotwali, Civil Lines and Nai Nandi areas, district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said. The district administration had clamped curfew on Saturday following incidents of communal violence.

"A total of 38 people have died in various districts of western UP with 32 deaths in Muzaffarnagar", Home Secretary Kamal Saxena told PTI in Lucknow when asked about communal violence over the last three days.

While two deaths have been reported from Meerut, one each has been reported from Hapur, Baghpat, Saharanpur and Shamli, he said, adding that 81 people have been injured in these districts and 366 people have been arrested.

The Home Secretary claimed that the situation was "under control". Sending out a stern warning, U P Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, "The state government would deal strictly with all those who have tried to create communal chasm and harm the atmosphere of Muzaffarnagar and Uttar Pradesh."

"It would be our efforts that communal amity is strengthened and the areas where situation has been brought under control no new incidents are allowed to take place", he told reporters after a state cabinet meeting here which took stock of the recent developments.

"We have got information that many people have left there homes and villages and collected elsewhere and they have to return...It would be my appeal that brotherhood should remain intact", he said. Curfew remained in force in other areas. Army patrolled the troubled areas in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Meerut, Saxena said.

Under fire over handling of the communal flare-up in Muzaffarnagar, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh defended the Akhilesh Yadav government saying it took stern measures and the situation was brought under control in two days.

"The government did everything to control the violence. It was stopped in two days. The security forces dealt with the problem very effectively," he told reporters. "It is because of the sterness shown by the government that the situation remained calm," Mulayam said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 each for the seriously injured. The ex-gratia was sanctioned from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, the PMO said in a statement. "Prime Minister has expressed his deep anguish over the loss of lives in the recent communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh," it added.

Asserting that BJP had no role in the Muzaffarnagar violence, senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu said people of Uttar Pradesh knew who was responsible and everything will come to light once the situation eased.

Union Minister Jitin Prasada said: "The Chief Minister should step down. The Samajwadi Party government is completely responsible for what happened at Muzaffarnagar." Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry declared: "If you can't protect people and especially the minorities, then you have no right to remain chief minister."