By IANS,
Lucknow : Tension erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti district Friday morning when a group of Muslims, after finding pieces of meat lying inside a mosque, attacked public vehicles, police said.
Protesters blockaded the busy Shravasti-Bahraich road for hours and even tried to torch some buses and trucks in various parts of the district, 230 km from Lucknow, police said. However, no one was injured.
According to police, a group of Muslims first noticed pieces of meat outside the gates of the mosque. When they entered the premises, they found more such pieces lying there.
As news spread like wild fire, around 300 Muslims assembled at the mosque and decided to protest, demanding immediate arrest of those involved in the incident, police said.
At least 14 people have been booked for disrupting peace and provoking communal tension. Police said they may have deliberately left pieces of meat inside the mosque.
“Of the 14 people, we have managed to arrest one, while the others are absconding,” Additional Superintendent of Police Lallan Rai told IANS.
The police officer said some villagers had some “dispute with members of the minority community after which they kept the meat pieces inside the mosque early Friday”. He declined to elaborate.
District police chief Subash Dubey told IANS that additional security men have been deployed taking into account the series of protests by the minority community members. “The situation is tense, but under control,” he said.
“Those involved in the incident that could have triggered communal tension will be booked under the National Security Act (NSA),” he added.