'I Love Muhammed' row: Several injured after cops, locals clash after Friday prayers outside Bareilly mosque

Police said large crowds gathered outside the cleric's residence and near the mosque, both in the Kotwali area, after Friday prayers, with people expressing their anger over the last-minute suspension of the protest due to denial of permission by the local authorities.

Lucknow: Several people, including cops, were injured as police made lathi charge to disperse mobs, which came out on the streets in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly and Mau districts to protest on Friday alleged action against 'I love Mohammed' posters in some parts of the state.

According to the police sources here, hundreds of people, who had gathered outside a mosque in Bareilly after the special Friday prayers and tried to march toward the Islamia Ground but were stopped by the police. The crowd allegedly pelted stones and also damaged a few vehicles prom[ting the police to make lathi charge to disperse them.

Police officials said that ten cops were injured in the violence.

The crowds had gathered on the call of senior Muslim cleric Maulana Toukir Raza, the chief of Ittehad-e-Millat Council. 

Videos which went viral on social media, purportedly showed cops asking the people to return to their homes and telling them that the permission to take out the rally was not granted. The mob also forced closure of the markets in some old city areas in Bareilly.

Reports said that police also made lathi charge to disperse a mob of people in Mohamdabad Gohna area in Mau district which raised slogans in support of the 'I love Mohammed' posters. The situation was said to be under control, sources said.

The controversy over the posters erupted after police booked some people in Kanpur town earlier this month when such posters came up during a procession on the occasion of Barawafat festival earlier this month. Soon such posters appeared in some other towns in UP and Uttarakhand.

In Varanasi, the Hindu seers pasted 'I love Mahadev' posters in several parts in Varanasi town on Thursday.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav slammed police action in Bareilly and said that the BJP government was resorting to repressive measures against peaceful processionists. State BJP leaders said that the government would not tolerate any attempt to disturb communal amity and would take strict action against the trouble mongers.