A group of kanwariyas were pelted with stones as they undertook a procession through Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly. The incident took place near the Shahnoori mosque in Jogi Nawada area on Sunday with around 12 people admitted to the hospital with injuries. The situation sparked a protest in the area with the kanwariyas demanding action against their attackers.
They had been on their way to Budaun to get water from the Ganga River when the incident took place. According to reports quoting Additional District Magistrate (City) RD Pandey, the situation was now normal. Police forces had been deployed in the area.
Dozens of Kanwariyas were hurt or killed over the weekend in separate incidents with another protest taking place in Uttarakhand's Roorkee city.
Three kanwariyas riding a motorcycle were killed on Sunday after being run over by a dumper truck. They had been heading towards Haridwar to collect the holy waters of the Ganga when the accident took place near Roorkee Civil Lines Kotwali. Two of them died on the spot while another was seriously injured and later succumbed at a hospital.
Other kanwariyas on the route had then protested blocking the Delhi-Haridwar highway and setting a car on fire. This in turn led to a traffic jam. Fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames and officials had a tough time convincing the angry kanwariyas and pacify them.
In a third incident from Sunday, one kanwariya died and 12 were injured when the tractor-trolley in which they were travelling was hit by a speeding truck in UP's Gorakhpur.
(With inputs from agencies)
