Raniganj/Asansol: A peace march by people from all communities rolled through Raniganj on Thursday as police patrolled areas scarred by three days after violence linked to Ram Navami rallies.

The rally in J.K. Nagar, a pocket with a mixed population, by the group of over 100 urged residents to maintain harmony and bring back normality .

"We do not need more violence and want to live peacefully. We want to maintain harmony among all communities," Sanjib Banerjee, one of the marchers, said.

Another participant, Sheikh Selim, said what had happened in Raniganj and nearby Asansol was a "black spot" on the area's long history of harmony.

A peace meeting was held at Raniganj police station with senior and prominent citizens of the town on Thursday evening. Normality started returning and many shops opened on Thursday. Public vehicles were seen on the roads.

On Wednesday, Trinamul had brought out a peace march with over 200 people from different communities.

In Asansol, police on Thursday conducted marches every hour in violence-affected pockets and chased away people gathering in groups.

Three senior IPS officers, sent from Calcutta to handle the law and order situation were in the town monitoring security and leading the force's marches.

"We have been patrolling the areas where clashes broke out since Tuesday evening. We are asking people not to be scared or to spread rumours. The situation is under control. No fresh violence has been reported," said L.N. Meena, commissioner of Asansol-Durgapur police.

Meena said the number of arrests had increased to 60 from 34 since Tuesday night.

Unlike Raniganj which started showing signs of some normality, Asansol town wore a deserted look as shops were closed and public vehicles did not ply.

A section of residents from the clash-scarred Railpar area left their homes for safer places, fearing repetition of the violence they had witnessed in the past few days.

"I have left home with my wife as we are scared after repeated clashes in which bombs were hurled in front of our eyes," said a retired Eastern Coalfields employee.

The elderly couple, who stay alone as their only son works in Delhi, decided to go to a relative's place in another part of the town where they would feel safe.

The police arranged vehicles for higher secondary examinees and escorted them to exam centres. Large police contingents were deployed at the centres in the affected areas.

Some residents whose houses were torched and looted have taken shelter at a relief camp set up by Trinamul supporters at a community centre in the Kalyanpur area.

"My tiled-roof house was set on fire on Tuesday night and gutted," said a 50-year-old labourer.

Injured cop

Deputy commissioner of police Arindam Dutta Chowdhury, whose right hand was almost severed in a blast during a clash in Raniganj on March 26, was shifted on Thursday to a hospital in Coimbatore for plastic surgery.