Republic Day celebrations took an ugly turn in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday when communal clashes broke out leaving one dead and half a dozen injured.

The police have rounded up about two dozen persons from both sides and clamped curfew in the affected areas. “Additional police force have been called in from adjoining districts to maintain law and order and restore peace and harmony. The situation is under control,” said the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Aligarh Dr Sanjeev Kumar Gupta.

The trouble started when members of a community took out a ‘Tiranga Yatra’ to celebrate Republic Day. When the Yatra reached communally sensitive Bilgram Gate area of the district, they raised ‘Hindustan Zindabad’ and ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ slogans.

A verbal altercation took place between two community members over slogan raising. Soon it turned into stone-pelting and both sides indulged in heavy stonepelting and firing. One youth, sustained bullet injuries and died in the hospital.

Clashes took an ugly turn when the news of the death reached the rioting crowd. Before the police could reach the spot to control the situation, mob went on rampage torching about half a dozen vehicles and shops. About half a dozen persons from both sides were injured in the communal clash. They have been admitted at the local hospital.

The situation was brought under control when additional police force was deployed in the affected areas and curfew was clamped. “We have detained about 24 trouble makers who tried to vitiate the atmosphere. We will lodge a case against those found guilty after the investigation,” said RP Singh, District Magistrate Kasganj.

BJP MP Rajveer Singh, who is also son of Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, also rushed to the affected areas and appealed people to maintain peace and harmony. Later, he blamed the police for letting the situation go out of hands.

Firing incident was also reported from Aligarh when a group of youth celebrating Republic Day opened fire near Ramghat Road in which a youth from another community was injured. “A probe has been ordered and we have arrested a few persons in connection with the firing incident,” said the SSP Aligarh Rajesh Kumar Pandey.