JAIPUR: Indefinite curfew was clamped in the industrial town of Pali in southern Rajasthan on Tuesday following a clash between people of two communities during the passage of a Mahavir Jayanti procession near a minority-dominated locality in the Walled City. Twelve persons, including two policemen, were injured in stone-throwing and subsequent police lathi-charge.

Tension erupted when the participants in the procession allegedly raised inflammatory slogans and removed flags and banners put up by the Muslim community for the Id-e-Miladunnabi procession to be taken out through the same route later in the day. The festivals of the two communities fell on the same day on Tuesday.

When the elders of the minority community objected to the flags being removed, those in the procession hurled stones on the houses situated in Rooi Katla locality. The police escorting the procession tried to defuse tension and hurriedly took away the procession to prevent further trouble.

The Muslim residents of the area retaliated by throwing stones. This led to a fresh wave of panic and the police resorted to lathi-charge to prevent a direct confrontation between the members of the two communities. Besides two policemen, a senior functionary of the Municipal Council, Pradeep Jain, and nine others were injured in the violence.

The police said there was no report of any casualty so far. Curfew has been imposed in the Kotwali police station area and extra police force has been deployed in all localities in Pali. Inspector-General of Police P.D. Sharma is camping in the town, while Collector Shivjiram Pratihar and Superintendent of Police Hawa Singh were keeping a close watch in the curfew-bound areas. Tension prevailed in the district town, known for its textile dyeing units, till late in the evening with the district administration withdrawing the permission to take out the Id-e-Miladunnabi procession. The procession of Muslims was originally scheduled to be organised immediately after the Mahavir Jayanti procession at the same route.

According to the district administration, the situation in the city was largely under control.

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