Agra, Oct 13: Police fired in the air to disperse a mob of angry BSP supporters who attempted to attack former partyman and Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Science and Technology Chaudhri Bashir, even as tension continued to prevail in the city. Police said cases of rioting had been instituted against four people and an unspecified number of arrests made in Mantola and Rakabganj Thana areas after a clash between BSP workers and Samajwadi Party supporters of Bashir in the communally sensitive area of Mantola last evening.

Sporadic incidents of pelting and firing were still being reported, police said. The mob broke into the house of Bashir's friend where the minister was visiting but he escaped to the third storey of the building, until police arrived and fired in the air to disperse the mob.

However, supporters of Bashir clashed with the BSP volunteers pelting articles at each other even as firing was resorted to by both sides despite the police presence. It was only after midnight that the situation was brought under control and the minister was taken to a police station for protection, police said.

Bureau Report