A minor skirmish led to stone pelting between two communities at Holagunda village in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh but the situation has returned to normal after police intervened and pacified both the sides, police sources said on Sunday. The skirmish occurred on Saturday night while a religious procession was being taken out on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, police sources said.
When the procession reached a mosque in the village, the Jayanti organisers switched off the mike, in reverence to the Ramzan observation. But some devotees allegedly chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans. Irked by this, the Muslims started pelting stones at the Hanuman Jayanti procession. The Jayanti participants too retaliated, police said.
The police then took the two sides to the local police station to quell the frenzy. Some tension prevailed even at the station but the authorities gave a stern warning to the two sides and brokered peace, the sources added. Kurnool Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Reddy rushed to Holagunda village to oversee the situation. Additional police force was deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
BJP state president Somu Veerraju condemned the incident and state that the attack on the Hanuman Jayanti procession began from the mosque. Veerraju demanded that the perpetrators be arrested immediately.
Police in various regions of India had been on high alert for Hanuman Jayanti processions after clashes had been reported during Ram Navami celebrations. In Maharashtra, MNS leader Raj Thackeray had raised the issue of ‘azaan being played at high volume from loudspeakers atop mosques’ and had asked authorities to curb the practice, right ahead of his programme in Pune.
Severe clashes had taken place at the Jahangirpuri area of north-west Delhi on Saturday evening due to the ‘Shobha Yatra’ that was being organised on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. The situation is under control now as the Delhi Police has deployed adequate security personnel including senior officers to control the situation. Some vehicles were torched by mobs during the violence that occurred at around 6 pm.
Special Commissioner (law and order) Dependra Pathak said six policemen have been injured. “One of them, the sub-inspector, has been shot in the hand. There was no firing from the police side. Tear gas shells were fired by the police,” he said, adding that rioting and attempt to murder case against unknown has been registered.
Two policemen – one sub-inspector and one constable – have been injured in the incident. Sources told News18 that whether the cops received gunshot wounds or not will be established only after the medical report. No injuries to civilians have been reported so far, they said.
An FIR in the case has now been lodged and sources told News18 that 15 people had been detained from the spot.
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