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Updated: May 30, 2017 18:34 IST

Timely police intervention prevented a Bulandshahr-like tragedy (in which a Muslim man was beaten to death) from occurring in Nandrauli village of Sambhal district on Wednesday night.

Enraged by the elopement of a girl from their community with a Muslim youth, the Yadavs of the area vandalised over six Muslim households. A motorcycle was also torched in protest.

The police have arrested six people on charges of rioting, and raids are underway to arrest the remaining nine named in the FIR, said cops.

“Three teams are working on tracing the couple who eloped from the village on May 8,” said DIG of Moradabad range, Omkar Singh.

Meanwhile, heavy police force has been deployed in and around Nandrauli to prevent any further clashes. After the couple’s elopement, the girl’s family had lodged a case of kidnapping against two Muslims. Later, on Tuesday, angry Yadavs had attacked some houses belonging to Muslims. To control the situation, police was deployed in the village.

Despite that the very next day, Yadavs vandalised around six Muslim households and also set a motorcycle on fire.

On being informed of the escalation, DIG Moradabad range rushed to the village along with the Sambhal SP, Ravishankar Chabi, and controlled the situation. The Muslims lodged a case of robbery and attack against 15 villagers.

“A meeting of members of both communities was organised to keep their trust in each other intact,” said DIG Moradabad range.

Reportedly, the Yadav girl and the Muslim youth were in a relationship but the girl was married off in November, last year .

The tension between the two communities suddenly escalated after she eloped with her lover. Since then, the Yadavs had been mounting pressure on Muslims to trace the couple.

In a similar case, communal tension in Sohi village of Bulandshahr district, after a Muslim youth eloped with a Thakur girl in April, led to activists of a Hindutva group allegedly mounting pressure on Muslims to trace the couple. The rising tension had eventually led to an elderly Muslim being beaten to death.

The victim’s son had lodged an FIR and the cops had booked Hindu Yuva Vahini Pahasu city president and two workers in the case.