Saharanpur: The Saharanpur district authorities on Friday refused permission to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to visit the strife-torn district.
Rahul was scheduled to visit Shabbirpur village on Saturday, where dalit houses were torched on May 5.
“Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has not been given permission to visit Saharanpur. No political visits in the village will be allowed till further orders. The security measures are at place,” said SSP, Saharanpur, Bablu Kumar.
He further added that a marriage ceremony concluded without any hiccups. People from both the communities attended the wedding and greeted bride and bridegroom.
Mr Kumar replaced SSP Subhash Chandra Dubey, who was suspended on May 24 in the wake of clashes in the district.
BSP chief Mayawati had recently toured the village and lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government for “failing to maintain law and order” in the state.
Saharanpur has witnessed widespread caste-based clashes his month.
Violence first broke out in Saharanpur about 40 days ago following a procession to mark Ambedkar Jayanti. On May 5, a person was killed and 15 people were injured in clashes between two communities.
About a dozen police vehicles were set ablaze and 12 policemen were injured on May 9.
On May 23, another person was shot dead and two others were wounded, following which the government suspended the SSP and district magistrate and transferred the divisional commissioner and the deputy inspector general of police.
The Centre has sent 400 anti-riot police personnel to Saharanpur to help the state restore peace in the region.
