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New Delhi: Stone pelting and clashes were reported during a ‘Shobha yatra’ on Saturday, Hanuman Jayanti, in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool after a procession led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stopped near a mosque and religious slogans were raised by members of two different communities.
Three people were injured and 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.
According to The News Minute, the procession halted in front of a mosque at around 7 pm for “an unusually long time”. The report says loud music was played and the police asked the VHP members in the procession to lower the volume of the music.
When some people in the procession began chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, the Muslims in the mosque responded with “Allahu Akbar”. To prevent an escalation, the police ordered the procession to move on. The loudspeakers were switched on again again and this set off an altercation between the two groups. Stones were pelted by both groups at one another, leading to injuries.
A communal clash was reported in Holagunda of Kurnool. Stone pelting during #HanumanJayanti Shobha Yatra. Police impose section 144 in the town. Situation under control. #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/2BI4YNGlD9
— Aashish (@KP_Aashish) April 17, 2022
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.
(With PTI inputs)