Yavatmal:
Two persons were killed and four others were injured when members of two communities clashed in Pusad area in Yavatmal after a religious procession on the occasion of Ram Navami, police said on Saturday.
Curfew was clamped in the communally sensitive area, 100 km from Yavatmal, after 70 shops were set on fire by an irate mob following a minor dispute on Friday night, they said.
The trouble began after some anti-social elements allegedly entered into a verbal duel with the police over the traffic jam at the Shivaji Chowk, caused due to the religious procession, police said.
The peaceful procession, which was flagged of from the old temple last evening, soon turned violent and the rioting mob started pelting stones and indulged in arson leading to a group clash killing two persons, identified as Sayed Gani (50) and Raju Hagane (45), they said.
Incidents of stone-pelting and looting were also witnessed in the area and police canecharged and fired several rounds in the air to quell violence in the Chowk area.
The injured were admitted to the government hospital in Pusad, police said.
Additional police force has been deployed to prevent violence, Yavatmal SP Shivaji Bodkhe, who visited the area, said.