Men brandish swords at Bengaluru Eid Milad celebration, 18 detained: Report

Bengaluru cops have detained 18 Muslim men including 13 minor boys for brandishing swords and other weapons at a procession in the city's Someshwara Nagar after Eid Milad celebrations on Sunday.

Five men and 13 minors were detained by police in Bengaluru this morning after they brandished swords and other weapons at an Eid Milad procession in the city's Someshwara Nagar area on Sunday.

The men were booked on various charges, including unlawful assembly and disturbing the peace, NDTV reported. Police acted after a video was shared online and said the adults will be remanded to judicial custody while the minors will be sent to the appropriate authorities.

An unnamed police officer was quoted as saying that the 18 who 'took part in the celebrations... brandishing dangerous weapons' had no criminal background and 'seemed to have been influenced by various recent incidents'.

According to P Krishnakant, deputy commissioner of police (Bengaluru South), the incident happened after a procession that followed the Eid function; this was when some people went to interior areas of Someshwara Nagar and danced and brandished weapons.

There was, however, calm and harmony in other parts of the city.

A Twitter user identified as 'Waseem' posted, "REAL BENGALURU Hindus distribute Water & Juice to Muslims during Eid Milad procession yesterday at the same spots where Muslim youths had distributed them Food & Water during Ganesha Festival @ForeverBLRU @peakbengaluru @prajwalmanipal @Nimmabhaskar22 @zoo_bear @Raghu_Dixit."

This comes after other videos on social media of a rally in Karnataka's Udupi on Gandhi Jayanti by a pro-Hindu group, in which some people were seen carrying swords and machetes and raising slogans for a 'Hindu Rashtra' as police walked next to them.

It is unclear if action has been taken against them.