Violence during Muharram processions in west Delhi, 10 cops injured

A section of people taking out Muharram processions clashed with police and pelted stones at them, injuring around 10 cops and damaging several vehicles, after they were stopped from changing the designated route in west Delhi's Nangloi on Saturday, officials said.

The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the "unruly crowd", they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Harendra Singh said, "Several 'tazia' processions were being carried out in Nagloi area and around eight to ten thousand people participated in them. One or two organisers became unruly and tried to divert their procession route which was earlier decided."

"When police objected to it, they started pelting stones at police personnel. In order to control them, police resorted to a mild lathicharge and dispersed them from the area," Singh said.

According to the police, around 10 personnel received minor injuries and some police vehicles were damaged in the stone pelting.

The situation in the area is under control, the police said.

Some purported videos of the incident were circulated on social media.

In the videos, some people in the area are seen pelting stones causing damage to public vehicles, including buses, and private cars.

In one of the videos, police are seen resorting to lathicharge.

Muslims take out "tazia" processions on Muharram to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in the battle of Karbala in 680 AD. "Tazia" is a miniature replica of the tomb of Imam Hussain.