Meerut: Communal tension gripped Palda village under Hastinapur police area on Monday when a mob indulged in arsoning and brick-batting after a youth was shot dead, police sources said here.

Police sources said that the youth, who was preparing for a competitive examination, was shot dead by two motorcycle borne miscreants on Sunday evening.

"The youth was taken to the community health center in Mawana where doctors declared him dead," they said.

Police sources said that agitated by the incident, the villagers kept the body on the road at Mawana trisection and staged a demonstration till Sunday midnight.

"Initially the police and administration defused the situation, but it took a communal colour on Monday while the deceased's body was being taken for cremation," they said.

Police sources said that the agitated mob set the house and vehicle of the accused on fire.

"The mob also torched the wheat and sugarcane crop of the accused. It also vandalised religious places after which heavy police force has been deployed and curfew like situation prevails in the area. The family of the accused is absconding after the incident," they said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohit Sajwan said that in the wake of the situation prevailing in the area, PAC and RAF have been called.

"In the wake of the tension heavy police force has been deployed in the village and it has been turned into a fortress," he said.

(With UNI inputs)