Karimnagar: Police caned protestors including BJP activists following a ruckus after a person tried to dance with a knife during a Hanuman Shoba Yatra late in the night on Saturday here in Karimnagar.
When the yatra reached Prashantnagar, a man named Jaydev, who was drunk, entered the rally and danced with a small knife in his hand. Processionists tried to stop him, which resulted in an argument and jostling.
Police went to the spot, took Jaydev into custody and tried to take him to the police station. At this point, the processionists blocked the police van and tried to attack Jaydev.
When the police tried to push them away, the processionists attacked the police vehicle and damaged its windows and chased the police van which was driving away. One of the devotees, who hung on to the vehicle’s window, got carried for a certain distance. Later, the police took Jaydev to the police station.
Having learnt about the incident, a large number of BJP activists reached the police station and staged a dharna in front of it, alleging that the police had abused Hanuman devotees in filthy language.
When the BJP activists and devotees tried to seize the police station, the police caned them. Some protesters were injured along with a policeman. The police arrested some protesters and shifted them to the police training centre. The situation became normal after midnight.
Karimnagar BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar rushed to Karimnagar from Hyderabad and enquired about the BJP leaders. Later, he spoke to DGP Ravi Gupta and demanded immediate action against police personnel who allegedly misbehaved with Hanuman devotees and BJP workers. He demanded immediate release of detained devotees and BJP activists.
The protesters were released in the early hours on Sunday. As a preventive measure, the police have tightened security across Karimnagar city.
Later, a video of Jaydev was released by police to show he was reciting Hanuman Chalisa and other devotional songs and he was a Hindu.
