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15 injured in Andhra clash, 89 in custody
Though police forces which rushed to the spot dispersed the warring groups within a couple of hours, the stone pelting continued on Sunday morning, too, leading to a tense situation.
Hyderabad At least 15 people were injured in stone pelting between Muslim and Hindu groups during a procession taken out to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti at Holagunda town in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district on Saturday night, police said.
Though police forces which rushed to the spot dispersed the warring groups within a couple of hours, the stone pelting continued on Sunday morning, too, leading to a tense situation.
Additional police forces, including armed reserve police, rushed to the village, which falls under Alur assembly constituency closer to Karnataka border and brought the situation under control.
The police have promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code in the village to prevent outbreak of any further violence.
“The situation is absolutely peaceful now. As many as 89 people have been taken into custody so far. We are closely monitoring the situation,” Kurnool superintendent of police Ch Sudheer Kumar Reddy, who has been camping in the village, told HT.
According to an official of the Holagunda police station, the incident took place at around 6.30 pm on Saturday, when the Hanuman Jayanti procession was passing through the Erla Katta area in the town where a place of worship was located.
“Some people conducting prayers in the place of worship objected to loud sounds being played during the procession. This led to slogan shouting from both the sides and subsequent clashes. Both sides indulged in stone pelting for some time, causing minor injuries to about 15 persons. The police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control,” the police official said.
On Sunday morning, too, the two groups indulged in stone pelting and the situation was quickly brought under control with additional police forces rushing to the spot. “We have set up a police picket to prevent any untoward incidents,” the police official said.
The police are yet to register a case, when the reports last came in.
Condemning the stone pelting on Hanuman Jayanthi procession, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Andhra Pradesh unit president Somu Veerraju demanded that stringent action be taken against those who pelted stones at the procession.
