An indefinite curfew was clamped on Sunday in Madannapet and Saidabad areas of Hyderabad after groups of two communities clashed.
The situation became tense after news spread on Sunday morning of a place of worship being desecrated.
Mobs damaged 16 RTC buses on the stretch between Madannapet Mandi and Chanchalguda Chowrasta and hurled stones at shops, forcing them to down shutters. Clueless commuters and shoppers had to hurry back home from their Sunday marketing at around 9.30 am as patrol cars rushed past them, sirens blaring. A car and four bikes were also damaged.
The police had a tough time controlling the mobs as they hurled stones and bricks at each other near Reliance World on the Saidabad police station road. Mobs also targeted a lone police vehicle after its driver fled.
Commissioner of police A.K. Khan said that six persons were injured by flying missiles and three of them had been treated as outpatients at the Osmania General Hospital. The others are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the city.
The police also took several youths into custody for stone pelting.
A large contingent of Rapid Action Force was deployed in the afternoon after the curfew was imposed.
DGP V. Dinesh Reddy visited the violence-hit areas at around 5 pm, including the place of worship that was allegedly desecrated. He also spoke to the locals in the nearby areas to get first-hand information of the incident and appealed to them to maintain communal harmony and not to be misled by rumours.
Earlier, at around 11:30 am, Mr Khan, joint commissioner of police Naveen Chand and other senior officials inspected the area and decided to impose curfew. The last time curfew was imposed here was two years back.
MIM MLAs Akbaruddin Owaisi and Ahmed Balala also visited the Malakpet ACP’s office at Saidabad and spoke to the police regarding the situation.