Nearly a dozen people were injured on Monday after a clash broke out between two groups at a village in Greater Noida here over the conduct of the kanwar pilgrimage, the police said.
The incident took place in Panchayatan village when the two groups, from the same community, indulged in violence, said the police.
Donation collection
“The two groups had together carried out the kanwar yatra last year but this year there was some conflict between them over donation collections in the village and the bhandara (community feast),” Superintendent of Police (Noida Rural) Aashish Shrivastava said.
He said that when one of the groups decided to take out their own separate kanwar yatra and held a prayer at a village temple, members of the other side arrived there and heated arguments ensued.
Soon both sides started hitting each other with sticks and brickbats, resulting in injuries to members of both parties, Mr. Shrivastava said.
The injured were taken to a hospital for treatment, the officer added.
The SP said that the police were in the process of filing complaints based on inputs from both parties.
Greater Noida Police Station House Officer (SHO) Dharmendra Sharma said six people from one group and five from the other side were injured in the clash.
As a precautionary measure, security was stepped up in Panchayatan village and some senior police officials visited it, the SHO, who was present in the village on Monday night, said.
Thousands of kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) from across the country carry out the ‘ kanwar yatra’ — an annual pilgrimage — during the auspicious Hindu month of ‘ Shraavana ’.
Hindu pilgrimage places including Sultanganj in Bihar; Haridwar, Gangotri and Gaumukh in Uttarakhand; and Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi witness huge crowds of kanwariyas from different states.
They carry kanwars on their shoulders, wearing saffron dresses and walk hundreds of miles barefoot to bathe the Shivaling and fetch water from the Ganges.
