At least 36 individuals have been detained in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal after violent confrontations shattered a religious procession, according to a police officer.
Warring groups hurled stones at each other in a neighborhood of the industrial city of Howrah before police and security forces protected the area, the official said. A few cars were set fire and some stores were ransacked.
In the Shibpur region of Howrah, where Hindus and Muslims have coexisted for decades, clashes resumed on Friday, according to the official, who wished to remain unnamed because he was not allowed to talk to the media.
West Bengal’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, claimed that clashes started after a parade honoring the Hindu holiday of Ram Navami on Thursday veered off course and into an unapproved area.
A police officer reported that as the procession went through Shibpur, stones were thrown at it.
According to Banerjee, there were mistakes made by the authorities, and serious measures would be done to address them.
An inquiry for remark was not quickly answered by the state police.
At least 10 party members had been hurt in the fights, according to Suvendu Adhikari, a head of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the state, and cops had watched the violence as “spectators.”
In the meantime, police in the Gujarati city of Vadodara detained 22 individuals on Friday for rioting and stone-throwing on Thursday during a Ram Navami parade. According to officers, the violence left six members of the force and five other individuals hurt.
