BENGALURU: Bagalkot Superintendent of Police (SP) Siddharth Goyal sustained a head injury after a stone-pelting incident during a Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti procession in the city’s old area on Thursday.
Police said the incident occurred when the procession was passing near Pankha Masjid, one of the city’s oldest mosques, where miscreants allegedly threw stones from the mosque. One of the stones struck the SP, who sustained a head injury but is said to be out of danger.
Following the incident, the situation turned tense, and police struggled to control the crowd. Videos that went viral showed police attempting to manage both people offering prayers at the mosque and participants in the procession.
Later on, police arrested eight people, including prime accused Tanveen Hawaldar, in connection with the incident. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in the city until the night of February 24, restricting the gathering of four or more people at one place to control the situation.
Sources said tensions escalated when the procession reached near the mosque and loud DJ music was played.
“The procession began arriving near the mosque at around 10:00 pm when the Muslims were offering special Ramzan prayers in the mosque. Due to the loud sound, it was not possible for the people praying to hear anything. At that point, some persons from the Masjid threw stones at the procession which hit SP who was standing near the police van kept across the entrance of the mosque,” said an eyewitness.
Later at midnight, some miscreants torched a few pushcarts used by vegetable vendors.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the police resorted to mild lathicharge on some pro-Hindu activists who had tried to gather near the Masjid area by violating prohibitory orders. The protestors wanted to call for Bandh, however the police stopped them and disbursed them with lathicharge.
District In-charge Minister R. B. Timmapur condemned the incident on Friday and made it clear that stringent action will be taken against those who are responsible for the incident. He said that already some eight persons have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Alleging that some BJP leaders are trying to politicize the incident, he said that BJP leaders have this habit of making efforts to gain political mileage during such sensitive situations.
Meanwhile the situation is tense but under control in the city. Police have been deployed at sensitive areas of the city to prevent any untoward incident.