Ganesha Procession: Bijapur tense after lathi charge

Belgaum: Tension prevailed in Sindagi, near Bijapur when violence broke out during a procession taken out for immersion of a Ganesha idol late on Thursday. The police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the mob that was indulging in stone throwing. Several policemen and people taking part in the procession were injured in the violence.

The Ganesha idol, being taken for immersion by the Vivekanand Yuvak Mandal, was abandoned at the spot after the violence broke out and the police had to take it for immersion.

Sources said that hundreds of people were protesting against the police for changing the procession route and were pressuring the police to let them go through the old route. Every year, the Ganesha idols were being taken for immersion via Tipu Sultan Circle in Sindagi, but the route was changed after clashes broke out at the circle during a procession recently. As a precautionary measure, the department had asked all the organisers of Ganesh mandals to take the idols through the alternative route that passes through Kanakdas Circle.

Several people objected to the new route marked by the police and were insistent upon taking their idols through the old route. When the police objected to their demand, hundreds of people gathered at Tipu Sultan Circle and staged a protest. When the police sensed that the situation was getting out of control, they resorted to a lathicharge. The protesters threw stones at people, shops and houses. Several people were injured and public property was damaged in the incident.