Moradabad DM injured in stone pelting by BJP supporters

The district magistrate of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh was seriously injured Friday when a mob of BJP workers pelted stones at officials and policemen after getting news that party leaders on way to the village for an event, banned by the administration, had been detained en route.

Chandrakant was taken to a private medical facility with serious head injuries and has been admitted to the intensive care unit where his condition is stated to be serious but out of danger.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and supporters fought pitched battles with police at Kanth village after the news reached that their leaders - three MPs and a legislator - had been stopped.

As the situation spun out of control, police carried out baton charges, lobbed teargas shells and shot blanks in the air to disperse the crowds which had stopped some trains including the Upasana Express.

The BJP leaders were arrested on way to Kanth to attend a maha panchayat, the call for which was given by the party's state unit to protest against removal of loudspeakers from a religious place there last week after a clash over the issue.

The Akhilesh Yadav government had banned the meeting and had ordered the district administration to take all necessary and prohibitory measures to contain spread of communal tensions.

Minister and government spokesman Rajendra Chowdhary accused the BJP of trying to incite communal tensions in the state and alleged that they were targeting officials and police with an eye on votes for the 2017 state assembly polls. He also alleged that the BJP leaders were encouraged to commit unlawful acts after the Narendra Modi-led central government assumed power.