Police register three cases over violence during Muharram processions in west Delhi

Three cases were registered after an unruly crowd taking part in Muharram processions clashed with police and pelted them with stones in west Delhi's Nangloi, officials said on Sunday.

Twelve people, including six police personnel, were injured in the clashes, they said.

The first FIR was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act at Nangloi police station on the complaint of Nangloi SHO Prabhu Dayal.

The incident in this case occurred at Surajmal Stadium, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Harendra Singh said. The second FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Nanag Ram, the law and order inspector at Nangloi police station, for an incident at Nangloi Chowk, Singh said.

The third FIR was registered on the complaint of Mukesh Kumar, a head constable, for an incident near the metro station at Nangloi. All three cases were registered on Sunday, Singh said.

The police are checking CCTV footage from the area and analysing videos of the incidents that were widely circulated on social media on Saturday, he said.

Several teams have been constituted to identify the perpetrators and initiate legal action against them. The situation is normal and law and order is being maintained, Singh added.

A section of people taking out Muharram processions on Saturday clashed with the police and pelted them with stones, injuring 12 and damaging several vehicles, after they were stopped from changing the designated route in Nangloi, officials had said.

The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the "unruly crowd", they had said.

Singh said on Saturday, "Several 'tazia' processions were being carried out in the Nangloi area and around eight to ten thousand people participated in those. One or two organisers on the main Rohtak Road became unruly and tried to deviate from the route that was mutually decided in the coordination meeting with the 'taziadaran'." The police made efforts to convince them to stick to the pre-decided route and proceed to the designated burials. While most of them cooperated, a few miscreants became unruly and started instigating the public and resorted to stone pelting, he had said.

According to Singh, "To ensure the safety and security of passers-by, which included women, children and motorists, the unruly mob was dispersed by the police with the mild use of lathicharge and order was restored immediately. They were dispersed from the area. The 'tazia' processions were subsequently conducted peacefully in the area as per customs and religious practices." Six police personnel and six volunteers, including five women, suffered minor injuries while some police vehicles were damaged in the stone pelting.