Stone-pelting to vandalism, violence mars Ram Navami celebrations in various parts of country

States like Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal witnessed clashes during Ram Navami procession

Violence broke out between two groups when a Ram Navami procession was taken out in West Bengal’s Howrah city, where several vehicles were torched and shops were ransacked on Thursday evening.

Police said a number of people were detained in this connection. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a dharna, said strict action will be taken against the culprits. A police officer said the incident occurred when the procession was passing through the Kazipara locality.

Several shops and auto-rickshaws were ransacked during the violence while a number of cars including a few police vehicles were set on fire. Four fire tenders were pressed into service to extinguish the blaze.

The police used force to disperse the mob. A large contingent of police was deployed in the locality where the situation is stated to be under control. The chief minister slammed the BJP for allegedly trying to stoke communal tension during the Ram Navami procession in Howrah and said those involved in the incident will not be spared.

"I have repeatedly said that I will not block any Ram Navami procession. I had given clear instructions to the police in this regard. While one community is celebrating Annapurna Puja, the other is observing fast during Ramzan," she said while concluding her 30-hour extended sit-in in a demonstration in the city.

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, however, dubbed the allegations as baseless. "The chief minister and the state administration are responsible for the violence," Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly, said.

Meanwhile, at least 12 persons, including 10 policemen, were injured after a mob of around 500 people went berserk and hurled stones and petrol-filled bottles when the cops tried to control the situation following a clash between two groups near a Ram temple in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city, officials said on Thursday. The incident, in which 13 vehicles were torched by the miscreants, occurred during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday in the city's Kiradpura locality that houses the famous Ram temple, they said.

Also, stones were hurled at two Ram Navami processions in Gujarat's Vadodara city on Thursday, police said, adding that some persons were injured in one of the incidents. While the first incident took place near Panjrigar mohalla in Fatehpura area in the afternoon, the second took place in nearby Kumbharwada in the evening.