Clash Breaks Out Between Warkaris And Cops During Religious Procession In Pune

Warkari devotees on Sunday were reportedly lathi charged by cops during a procession in the Pune district.

The incident occurred after devotees allegedly got into an argument, according to a report in Times Now. However, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis denied reports of lathi charge on Warkaris by police in Alandi town. He claimed that a minor scuffle broke out between Warkaris- devotees of Lord Vitthal- and the police.

"There was no lathicharge on the warkari community," PTI quoted the reporters as saying in Nagpur.

On the other hand, the Opposition parties accused the police of lathi charging Warkaris and demanded a high-level probe and strict action. The incident occurred when devotees were trying to enter into Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Samadhi Mandir in Alandi town, 22 km from Pune city, during the ceremonial procession which is part of the annual Ashadhi Ekadashi pilgrimage to Pandharpur, the agency reported.

"We learned from the last year's stampede-like situation at the same place (Alandi) and tried giving a few number of the entry pass to various groups. It was decided to issue 75 passes to each group that participate in the pilgrimage," said Fadnavis, who handles the Home portfolio.

According to him, some 400-500 youths insisted that they would participate in the pilgrimage and won't follow the decision on the restricted allotment of the entry pass. "They broke the barricades and the police tried to stop them, during which some police personnel were injured," Fadnavis said.

After a collaborative meeting involving the principal district judge, the charity commissioner, and the leaders of different groups, a decision was made to allocate a limited number of entry passes for the pilgrimage, as part of the preparations.

Commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad, Vinay Kumar Choubey, had mentioned that the police had taken extensive measures and conducted meetings with temple trustees to ensure the prevention of any undesirable incidents. Despite the police organizing batches of 75 devotees at a time, there were instances where a few individuals breached the barricades in an attempt to enter the temple.

"There was an altercation when police tried to stop them," Choubey said but refuted allegations that police lathi-charged Warkaris.

Nationalist Congress Party Working President Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole claimed Warkaris condemned the incident accusing the cops of lathi charging the devotees.