CHANDIGARH: Curfew was on Friday imposed in a town in Haryana's Sirsa district after a group of Sikhs and Dera Sacha Sauda supporters fought a pitched battle in which one person was killed and 30 injured.

Haryana and neighbouring Punjab have been put on high alert after the incident, official sources said. The clash broke out after an altercation between two sides during morning prayers -- naamcharcha -- of Dera supporters in Dabwali town, about 60 km from Sirsa, Deputy Commissioner V Umashankar said.

"One person belonging to the group of Sikh supporters slipped and fell down in the melee and was killed in the brickbatting during the clash. He has been identified as Mandar Singh of Dabwali," Umashankar, who also received minor injury when he went to assess the situation in the town, said.

The supporters of each group were carrying weapons, including swords and lathis, during the clash. After the incident, violence erupted as irate mob went on rampage and damaged about 15 shops in Dabwali and also burnt two of them. Some vehicles were also damaged by the mob.

"Additional forces, including two companies (200 personnel) of Rapid Action Force, have been mobilised from neighbouring districts and have been deployed in Sirsa and Dabwali," Haryana's Additional Director General of Police (law and order) V B Singh said. He said an FIR had been registered in connection with the incident at Dabwali, which is about 40 km from Punjab's Bathinda district.