Holi Celebrations Turn Violent As Hindus, Muslims Clash in UP's Amroha

The incident took place on Friday when a group of people were playing music next to a mosque in Amroha.

Six persons were arrested after members of two communities clashed during Holi celebrations in Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, 18 March.

Several videos of the incident have gone viral on social media that capture Muslims and Hindus throwing stones and slippers at each other.

The incident took place when a group of people were playing music in an empty plot next to a mosque in Kotwali area of Amroha.

The Holi celebrations happened to coincide with the Muslim festival Shab-e-Barat. A group of people came out of the mosque and objected to the playing of the music during the time of namaz, which soon led to a dispute, police said.

Ataur Rahman, Samajwadi Party MLA from Baheri, accused people of applying colour on the Mutvalli (caretaker) of the mosque, which enraged the community.

The loudspeakers installed along with Holi decorations on the main road were broken in the scuffle, the police told The Quint. Additional Superintendent of Police Alok Jaiswal and Additional District Officer Kamlesh Awasthi rushed to the spot.

"The dispute started with gulal (powdered colour) falling on the shrine. One community protested and a case was registered against some people. After this, people left, but then a group started a chakka jam on the Nainital highway. When an attempt was made to stop them, they also misbehaved with the police. The police removed them after using force. An FIR will also be lodged against those who set up the jam. There is peace on the spot.''

Bareilly District Superintendent of Police Dehat Rajkumar Agarwal

A large contingent of security personnel has been deployed at Chhanga Darwaza to avoid any untoward incident, said police.

A case has been registered against 40-50 unidentified persons and the police said the other miscreants are bing identified with the help of the videos.

SP Rural Rajkumar Aggarwal accused the crowd of misbehaving with the police and assured that the situation was under control now.

The local SP MLA also sought action against those who threw gulaal on the mosque.