As fresh violence claimed two more lives in Mau to take the death toll in three days of communal frenzy to seven, the Uttar Pradesh government woke up to announce the suspension of five top officials, including the Divisional Commissioner and DIG. Unofficial figures, however, put the death toll at 12.Officials sounded a red alert in eastern UP to check any communal backlash of the Mau killings.Despite shoot-at-sight orders, fresh violence erupted in the town with two communities trading gunfire in which two people were killed.Twenty-nine people were injured in the violence which broke out on Thursday night over Dussehra festivities, Principal Secretary (Home) Alok Sinha said in Lucknow.The UP government suspended Divisional Commissioner D D Singh, DIG Prabhat Kumar, DM Heera Mani Singh Yadav and SSP Akhilesh Kumar Mishra for their failure to control violence.Mukesh Meshram and Sujit Pandey have been appointed new DM and SSP respectively. The fifth official to be placed under suspension was B L Paswan, in-charge of Kotwali police station in the town.Senior BJP leaders Kalyan Singh, Kesri Nath Tripathi and Lalji Tandon and party MP Yogi Adityananth were detained at Shahganj and Gorakhpur while heading towards Mau, Sinha said, adding that there was a ban on entry of political leaders in the town.According to Sinha, two people were killed and a few injured in fresh clashes today on the outskirts of the town. He said clashes had been reported from Salempur and other areas where additional force had been deployed to bring normalcy.Members of the two communities traded gunfire and set some shops on fire. The rioters had last night set afire a school and a bank branch.One of the injured, Shibu, an 18-year-old from Shahi Katra, said, ‘‘I stepped out of my home when a bullet hit me from behind. I fell unconscious and woke up to find myself in hospital.’’Another resident of the area, Mohammed Danish, who was injured by sharp weapons yesterday, was on the next bed.Yesterday, around 10 shops were looted, vehicles burnt and some houses torched by rioters. Today, the roads in the area were empty.Mau railway station, which is a transit point for thousands of passengers, was also deserted with booking counters closed. Thirteen trains were cancelled and routes of a dozen others diverted, station master A K Mishra told The Indian Express.With people fearing more clashes, more than 100 residents, about half of them women, staged a dharna in front of Kotwali police station yesterday, demanding security.‘‘We stay very near the police station but still feel insecure. We have sought force in our area but no one paid any heed, forcing us to stage the dharna,’’ said Prakash, a local resident.‘‘Both communities have been co-existing peacefully as they are mutually dependent on each other for their livelihood,’’ said Zakib Hussain of Salahabad area. Two years ago, a flare-up between two communities had claimed one life.
