Agitated over a search by police of a suspect involved in alleged cow slaughter in communally sensitive Shahpur area of Old City here, over 200 people clashed with the police which fired tear gas shells to disperse them.
One policeman was severely injured in the stone pelting and police fired some rounds in the air, the police said.
City Commissioner of Police Shivanand Jha, local MLA Gyasuddin Shaikh and crime branch officials, including DCP Himanshu Shukla, reached to the spot.
Some locals got into an argument with crime branch officials while they were searching for a suspect involved in alleged cow slaughter, Jha said, during his interaction with reporters after the situation was brought under control.
Today's incident is linked to the city crime branch's efforts to nab those allegedly involved in cow slaughter, Jha said.
A crime branch team, led by Police Inspector B P Rozia, chased a tempo in Shahibaug area yesterday night, after they they suspected that the vehicle had cow beef. Rozia also opened fire at the vehicle when the driver didn't stop.
After nabbing two suspects, the crime branch learnt about a third person, believed to be a resident of Shahpur.
To hunt him down, the crime branch team began a search operation in Shahpur area today evening, which angered the locals, Jha said.
"When crime branch officials were searching for the suspect near Rangila police post today evening, some locals got angry and started throwing stones at the police. When stone pelting intensified, we called in extra force to control the situation," Jha said.
