BHOPAL: At least five police personnel were injured when a mob attempted to break through the police barricades to redirect the Muharram procession towards a prohibited route in Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday night. Following the incident, the police force resorted to caning to disperse the mob.
A viral video of the incident shows the mob pushing through the barricades while carrying the symbolic horse and the police attempting bring the chaos under control.
Following the use of force to disperse the violent mob, many fled from the spot, including those carrying the tazia (a replica of the mausoleum of Imam Hussain), leaving behind the symbolic horse.
"The procession taken on the ninth day of Muharram, were taken out in various parts of Ujjain throughout Saturday night. Over the 10 days, multiple meetings were held at the district police control, police sub division and individual police station levels with the organisers of the Muharram procession, after which different routes were clearly determined for separate processions," Ujjain district police superintendent Pradip Sharma said on Sunday.
"One such procession organised by Irfan Khan ‘Lalla’ of Begum Bag area, which was already stipulated to move through the Khajuri Waali Mosque into the Nikas Chowk, instead tried to move into the Abdalpura-Geeta Colony area, where its entry was prohibited. Those leading the procession tried to break through the police barricades, which caused injuries to five cops and forced the on-duty police personnel to resort to cane charge to disperse the unruly mob," Sharma added.
"A police case has been registered against 16 persons, including the procession’s organiser and his 15 unidentified aides, who, during the primary probe, have been found responsible for the incident. They have been booked under BNS Sections 191, 192, 132 and 121 and the process of identifying the 15 unidentified men is underway," Sharma said.
One of the prominent office bearers of Seerat Committee (which supervises organising of religious events and processions in Muslim dominated areas) also blamed the organisers of the concerned procession for the entire incident.
"Multiple meetings were held several times over the last ten days, where the routes of each procession were determined by the administration and police in agreement with the organisers," Seerat Committee’s joint secretary Advocate Maqsood Ali said.
"Despite this, the organisers of the procession from Begum Bagh tried to move into the Abdalpura-Geeta Colony area, where its entry was already prohibited," he added.
Ali said that only the organisers are to be blamed for the incident.
"Action shouldn’t just be taken against those responsible for the incident, but also those who were present at the earlier meetings with the police and still violated their signed bond agreement," he stated.