A dispute between a priest and a youth of another community led to a communal clash in which members of two communities hurled stones at each other and also damaged some shops at Yoga Marg on Lehra Road in Soron area of Kasganj on Friday afternoon.

The situation could be brought under control only after senior officers rushed to the spot with a heavy police force and chased away the troublemakers. Later in protest, the supporters of the priest got the local markets closed forcibly and demanded action against the opposite party.

This was the third incident in this week when the members of two communities clashed with each other resulting in communal tension. Earlier, similar clashes were reported from Sultanpur and Gonda and over three dozen people were arrested in both the districts. 

According to the reports from Kasganj, a priest, identified as Prashant Krishna Shastri Mahre of Chattarpur locality in Soron area of Kasganj, had gone to visit Batuknath temple on Lehra Road by a motorcycle on Friday noon. As he passed a tractor parked on the road near Yoga Marg, splashes of dirty water accumulated on the road fell on one Shahzad of the same area.

Shahzad reportedly hurled abuses and tried to manhandle the priest so the latter called his supporters and some members of Hindu outfits for help. Later members of both the communities gathered at the spot and started hurling stones at each other. They also damaged some vehicles till the police rushed to the spot after learning about the clash.

During this, shops in Kachla Gate vegetable market were vandalised and the members of Hindu outfit forced the closure of the local market in demand of arrest of the culprits, including Shahzad.

A heavy police force was camping in the area to avert any further clash.