Authorities in Uttarakhand are on high alert after Thursday's violence in Haldwani, triggered after an illegal madrasa and mosque were razed during an anti-encroachment drive.Security stepped up in several parts of the violence-hit area of Haldwani after clashes broke out in Banbhoolpura following an anti-encroachment drive on Thursday.
At least 60 people have been injured after local residents set vehicles and a police station on fire and hurled stones over the demolition of an "illegally built" madrasa and an adjoining mosque in Haldwani, officials said. A curfew was imposed in the city on Thursday night. A majority of people injured in the violence erupted after the demolition of the madrasa at Malik ka Bagicha in city's Banbhoolpura area were police personnel. The remaining were municipal workers, officials said. The injured also included Haldwani SDM, they added. In the state capital Dehradun, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a meeting with senior officials, including Chief Secretary Radha Raturi and DGP Abhinav Kumar to review the situation in Haldwani, according to an official statement. Besides imposition of curfew in entire Haldwani, shoot-at-sight orders against rioters were also issued in the city, the statement said. The chief minister urged everyone to maintain calm and asked officials to deal sternly with "anarchic elements", it added. As the violence escalated, all the shops in Haldwani were closed. After the imposition of curfew, all schools from Classes 1-12 in and around the city have also been closed.