Curfew relaxed in violence-hit Bareilly

Curfew was relaxed in Uttar Pradesh's violence-hit Bareilly district on Monday.

"Curfew has been relaxed in five police areas -- Prem Nagar, Qila, Baradari, Kotwali and Subhash Nagar -- for four hours, from 10 am to 2 pm, on Monday morning and people have been allowed to come out of their houses after 13 days," official sources said.

The district administration decided to relax the curfew on Sunday night after assessing the situation. However, as a preventive measure, the administration has decided not to allow vehicles ply on city roads

"Only pedestrians, cycles and rickshaws have been allowed to move in the city," they said.

Besides, the administration has directed that only grocery and ration shops would be allowed to open during relaxation in the curfew.

"The administration has allowed medical stores to open in case of emergency," the sources said.

Curfew was clamped in four of the six police areas of Bareilly on March 2 in the wake of communal clashes over a Milad-un-nabi (Barawafat) procession.

It was later extended to one more police area after fresh violence on March 11. In a bid to restore normalcy in the city, the administration along with prominent people organised a peace march on Sunday evening.