Nainital, May 2 (PTI) Tension prevailed in Nainital on Friday over the alleged rape of a minor girl by an elderly man from a minority community, with religious groups from Vrindavan reaching the tourist town to join in the protests.

Police took out a flag march in the town on Friday to instil confidence among the residents as well as tourists flocking to this popular hill station, SP Jagdish Chandra said.

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“The flag march was organised to send out a message to everyone that the force remains vigilant and the condition is normal,” the SP said.

Police have already arrested the accused, a 75-year-old contractor, after booking him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, officials said.

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Meanwhile, a division bench of the Uttarakhand High Court comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Ravindra Maithani pulled up the local municipal authorities for adding fuel to the fire by issuing a demolition notice to the wife of the accused to raze their residence.

The high court also said that procedures should be followed while serving such notices.

Following the harsh observations of the high court, the Nainital Nagar Palika tendered an unconditional apology for issuing demolition notices to 62 persons, including the rape accused.

Accordingly, the notices saying they were living on encroached land now stand withdrawn.

Aggrieved by the high court's observations, Swami Sachinananda of the Chitragupta Peeth Vrindavan hit the streets along with 70-80 disciples and local protesters on Friday.

He said they came to Nainital to seek justice for the rape survivor, who is only 12-year-old.

If the house of the accused is not bulldozed, they would see to it that it is razed, he claimed.

The protesters were halted near a mosque where they chanted the Hanuman Chalisa.

The Friday namaz was also offered amid heavy security across the tourist town, even though no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

Meanwhile, joint magistrate Varuna Aggarwal said checking has been intensified at the entry points to ensure that no one enters the town with an intention to cause unrest.

The Kumaon commissioner has also requested people not to spread misinformation on social media, as he asked tourists to visit Nainital without any fear.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)