Man removed from communal riot was a temporary stand-in (5)
I believe the answer is:
locum
'a temporary stand-in' is the definition.
'locum' can be an answer for 'stand-in' (locum is a kind of stand-in). I'm unsure of the 'a temporary' bit.
'man removed from communal riot' is the wordplay.
'removed from' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'riot' indicates anagramming the letters.
'communal' with 'man' taken out is 'comul'.
'comul' anagrammed gives 'LOCUM'.
'was' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for locum that I've seen before include "Person filling in" , "One stands in" , "Doctor's stand-in" , "Physician's stand-in" , "One standing in" .)