31 people have been killed in the communal violence that has ripped through Muzaffarnagar in Western Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is under attack for failing to stop the riots, though there were plenty of warning signs.
Here are 10 big developments in this story:
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told NDTV on Monday that hours before the violence erupted on Saturday, he had phoned Mr Yadav and warned him that "the situation is tense." The minister also said that earlier alerts had been passed on as well, but said "I don't want to accuse the UP government of any failure."
When asked if President's rule could be imposed in the state, the minister said, "We have to wait and watch the situation."
The Prime Minister yesterday phoned Mr Yadav and asked for details of the plan to restore peace in Muzaffarnagar, 155 kms north east of Delhi. The UP government has also been asked to provide a report every 12 hours to the Centre on the latest developments in Muzaffarnagar.
Mr Yadav has said that the riots are a political conspiracy to destabilize his government.
The police and army have been issued shoot-at-sight orders. Curfew is being enforced but the violence spread overnight to the neighbouring districts of Shamli and Meerut.
The police have filed an FIR that lists four BJP state legislators, one from the Congress and two from the regional Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) for stirring communal hatred largely through inflammatory speeches made on Saturday evening at a meeting of thousands of Hindu farmers in Kawal village.
That meeting had been called to demand justice for two Jat brothers who were lynched to death after they shot a Muslim boy for harassing their sister in the village of Kawal.
After the mahapanchayat, the farmers were attacked as they were returning home, triggering an angry backlash. Clashes then broke out in neighbouring villages on Sunday and today.
A video posted online instigated the violence - it claimed to show men being lynched to death in Kawal. But police officials, who have blocked the video, say it is at least two years old, and is "fake." A BJP state legislator, Sangeet Som, is among 250 people listed by the police in a case for uploading that video and sharing it on social networks.
Politicians have been told not to visit the area. Union minister Ajit Singh and the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad were both detained in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh to prevent them from traveling to Muzaffarnagar.
