Lucknow, August 5, 2013: Violence broke out when a section of devout at a place of worship resorted to road block and stone pelting following a dispute with local authorities in Pratapgarh on Sunday. The trouble began after some devotees entered into an argument with local police over use of public address system outside a temple.

The incident took place at Sitaramdham temple in Jogapur village under Kotwali Police circle in Pratapgarh. Trouble began after some kanwariyas who had arrived at the Sitaramdham temple told the local organisers to use a public address system around 9 pm on Saturday a request that was dismissed by the local police. The issue was resolved for the time being.

On Sunday morning, scores of kanwariyas staged a road jam and soon the situation turned political with locals claiming to be members of Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal joined them. The situation reached a point where there was heavy brick-batting between the protestors and police. The protestors then marched towards the Kotwali police station and a section of the mob torched a police motorcycle parked on the roadside. In the stone pelting, a police sub inspector (SI) suffered head injuries and had to be rushed to the hospital which stated his condition was stable.

The situation remained tense as reports of sporadic incidents of violence, mostly of stone pelting, continued to pour in from different pockets of the Kotwali police circle. Finally, senior officials reached the site and pacified the protestors who accused the police inciting violence. Later, police contingents and security personnel were deployed particularly along the section of the highway passing from near the Jogapur village. Later, police registered an FIR on the complaint of the local police officers on duty accusing an unidentified mob of arson resulting in a police motorcycle being torched. Police said FIRs will be lodged in case they receive any complaint from protestors or civilians in the area regarding the incident.

Source: The Times of India, August 5,2013