Curfew reimposed on Hubli

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, SEPT. 17. Curfew was reimposed on Hubli from this afternoon and it will continue till Tuesday morning following a fresh bout of violence. Three persons were stabbed and two attempts were made to set fire to a tailoring shop and a bakery in Durgadbail area. There were reports of stray incidents of stone throwing from many areas in the city.

Three persons were stabbed in Kasbapet area in Old Huli. The names of the victims were given as Prabhu Mohangounda Mamadpur (23), Ramesh Krishnaji Kempwad (32), and Sunil Vishwanath Basava (28). They have been admitted to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital.

A group opened the shutters of the two shops and threw incendiary material inside. Firefighters rushed to the spot and put out the fire.

Mr. M.D.Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, and Mr. Jyoti Prakash Mirji, DIG of Police, who have been specially sent here to handle the law and order situation, decided to reclamp the curfew. This is the third night in succession that curfew is being clamped in Hubli.

Earlier, for the first time in two days, people in old Hubli and other areas that are normally endemic to communal tension, ventured out.

While educational institutions remained closed as directed by the authorities in the wake of Saturday's unsavoury developments, autorickshaws were yet to resume normal service. The city buses remained off the road, much to the inconvenience of the people. Shopkeepers also chose to play it safe. Not many shops were opened even by 10 a.m.

Mr. A.M.Hindasgeri, Minister for Labour and Wakfs, who is the district in-charge minister, visited the affected areas this morning. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Hubli-Dharwad, Mr. Suresh, escorted the Minister. Mr. Singh, Mr. Mirji, and Mr. Y.R.Patil, Commissioner of Police, Hubli-Dharwad, did not escort the Minister.

Surprisingly, the wreckage of Saturday's violence had not been removed. Also, presspersons were kept out of the meeting of the peace committee. Members of the BJP and the Bajrang Dal staged a demonstration outside the meeting venue in protect against the manner in which the leaders of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had been kept away from the meeting.

The protesters alleged that only a chosen few had been invited, while those who mattered had been ignored.

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Section  : Southern States
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