Members of two communities indulged in brick-batting and vandalism at Deoband area in Saharanpur this afternoon after two clerics were allegedly assaulted by some youths while travelling on a bus between Roorkee and Deoband earlier this morning. Meerut Zone IG Bhawesh Kumar Singh,who rushed to the place and is camping in the district,claimed that the situation is under control and heavy police force is deployed in Deoband to maintain peace. Singh said the two clerics who took a private bus from Roorkee for Deoband had an altercation with two youths while travelling and both were manhandled. They reached Deoband and told the people about the incident following which locals gathered at Manglore police outpost and started pelting stones policemen with stones. As additional police force reached the place,the mob indulged in brick-batting. The mob was dispersed later,he added. However,eyewitnesses told The Indian Express that the two clerics had an altercation with two youths over sharing of seats in the bus. As the bus reached a village,where the two youths had to get down,their associates arrived and allegedly assaulted the clerics. The clerics,who were coming to attend a religious event at Deoband from Kolkata and Ghaziabad,respectively,told the incident to the people. Angry over the incident,the locals damaged an arms shop and some vehicles. They also assaulted members of other community who were passing by. A group of other community also arrived there and started firing in the air which reportedly resulted into a clash between the two communities,told the eyewitnesses.
