Clash breaks out between two groups during religious procession in Andhra's Kurnool

A minor skirmish led to stone pelting between two communities at Holagunda village in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh but 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. When the procession reached a mosque in the village, the Jayanti organisers switched off the mike, in reverence to the Ramzan observation.

But some devotees allegedly chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans. Irked by this, the Muslims started pelting stones at the Hanuman Jayanti procession. The Jayanti participants too retaliated, police said.

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. BJP state president Somu Veerraju condemned the incident and state that the attack on the Hanuman Jayanti procession began from the mosque. Veerraju demanded that the perpetrators be arrested immediately.

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