Congress seeks judicial probe into Kasganj clash

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New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday demanded a judicial probe into the clash between two communities on Republic Day in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh and said that the state government failed to tackle the situation.

"This will come out only when a judicial probe under a sitting judge of the High Court takes place. We demand the probe and appeal for peace," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari told the media here.

Referring to the fresh incidents of violence, Tiwari, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, hit out at the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government and blamed its failure to tackle the situation.

"Despite forces being deputed, how such incident took place. This shows the negligence and failure on the part of the state government," he said.

The incident took place on Republic Day when a "Tiranga Yatra" in the form of a bike rally was taken out by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and some other Hindu organisations in the town. As they were passing through the Hulka locality -- a Muslim majority area -- some youths pelted stones at the bikers.

After that, it became a free for all and the bikers also retaliated with stones. Soon there was firing from the locality in which two persons received gunshot wounds and one succumbed in the hospital later.

An irate mob attacked vehicles on the highway, targeted public property and torched some other vehicles. Over half-a-dozen persons, including some policemen, were also been injured in the clashes.