Dist admin bans fireworks in Meerut till May 17

Following last week's communal clashes here, the local administration has enforced a ban on the sale and use of fireworks in Meerut district with effect from today till May 17 to prevent any fresh eruption of trouble when Lok Sabha poll results are declared.
According to district collector Navdeep Rinwa, the ban under provisions of Section 144 of CrPC applies to the sale and use of fireworks and also to firing from weapons in celebration.
The move comes ahead of the declaration of Lok Sabha election results on Friday over apprehensions that celebrations may go out of hand in the district where the situation may still be sensitive following the clash between members of two communities on May 10 in the Teergaran area.

A youth who had suffered a bullet wound to the head during the clash, which broke out over the building of a water kiosk near a mosque, later succumbed to the injury. Six other persons were injured in the clash.