9 held after stone-pelting during Hanuman Jayanti procession in MP's Guna

Bhopal | Police have apprehended nine persons in connection with stone-pelting during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in Madhya Pradesh's Guna city, officials said on Sunday.

The incident took place at around 7.45 pm on Saturday near a mosque in Colonelganj area when members of two communities came face-to-face, following which the authorities rushed to the site to bring the situation under control, they said.

The situation was currently peaceful, the officials said.

"Eight-nine persons from among those involved in the stone-pelting have been taken into custody. They will be charged on the basis of videos and CCTV footage of the incident. More persons are being identified," Additional Superintendent of Police Man Singh Thakur told PTI.

The police were searching for the other accused and they will be arrested, he said.

The incident occurred when the procession was passing in front of a mosque. There was some communication-gap during which the two groups came face-to-face, leading to stone-pelting, Guna Collector Kishore Kanyal said.

There was no permission to take out the procession in that area, he said.

However, Ranjeet Khatik, one of the procession organisers, said, "The administration is saying that there was no permission but I have all the proof of the permission."

Stones were pelted when some boys raised slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram', while the other group, in retaliation, raised 'Allahhu Akbar' slogan, he claimed.

The information about the stone-pelting at a procession was received at around 7.45 pm on Saturday, when members of two communities came face-to-face, Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Sinha said.

The police force, posted at Tekri Dham, rushed to the spot, he said.

Based on a complaint by a local corporator, a case has been registered in which four-five persons have been named while 15-20 others are unidentified, the official said.

Security forces from neighbouring districts have been deployed here, he said.

Thakur said police personnel from three districts arrived and they were deployed in different areas.

The situation is under control now, the collector said.