Sunday, February 20 2005 18:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: At least three persons were killed and 11 others injured today (Feb 20, 2005) in a sectarian clash during a Tazia procession on the tenth day of Muharram in the old city in Lucknow following which security has been beefed up with PAC and RAF personnel patrolling sensitive areas.

Police fired in the air and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse warring mobs which also burnt some shops and houses in Hussainabad, the main scene of the clashes.

The trouble sparked off when some members of the Sunni sect allegedly objected on the route of the Tazia procession, officials said.

Both the communities indulged in heavy stone pelting, damaged some vehicles and also set ablaze some houses and shops, Inspector General of Police Sulhan Singh told sources in Lucknow.

Three persons, who were injured in the stone-pelting between the two groups and also sustained pellet injuries in Husainabad area, succumbed in a hospital, Singh said.

He said 11 others were also injured, two of them seriously, and had been hospitalised.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, while expressing grief over the incident, announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs five lakh each to the family members of all the three deceased.

He also urged the people to help mantain peace and order.

Senior civil and police officials are camping in the area and religious leaders of both the sects have been roped in to persuade the people to maintain peace and harmony. District Magistrate was also injured in police firing.

Shia cleric Kalbe Jawwad and AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani have appealed to the members of both Shia and Sunni sects to help in the restoration of normalcy and maintain brotherhood and communal amity.