Awadhesh Thakur, area police in-charge in Ranchi, was injured on Friday.
A photograph of a policeman holding a cloth to his bleeding head went viral after a protest against BJP representatives' comments about Prophet Muhammad turned violent in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi last Friday. Speaking with NDTV on Monday, the policeman, Daily Market station house officer Awadhesh Thakur, said the police were not expecting the situation to turn violent, though a protest was planned.
Two protesters died and over 20 other people, including demonstrators and police personnel, were injured in the violence in Ranchi.
Mr Thakur said police had spoken to community elders, including some Hajis, on Thursday. "They had assured us that only a shutter-down would be observed; no procession would be taken out." As the row over the comments was simmering over the past few days, there was apprehension of protests after weekly mass prayers on Friday.
The situation got volatile after the demonstrators burnt an effigy of Nupur Sharma, the since-suspended BJP leader whose comments on a TV show last month sparked a diplomatic row and protests in India and abroad. "The mob suddenly started a procession. Senior police officers were present too. As there was a temple of Bajrang Bali (Lord Hanuman) nearby, we were worried that it would be attacked," he recounted.
"Suddenly, stone-throwing started. I think one of the first few stones hit me and I fell immediately. Some colleagues took me to the temple compound. I was bleeding severely," he said. "When stones started landing inside the temple, they took me to the first floor. I was there for about 20 minutes. There was a large mob out on the road."
He recalled being taken to the hospital by "a man who got a bike to the backdoor of the temple". "The munshi (clerk) of my police station was with me too. The man took me to the sadar (government) hospital."
By the time they reached the hospital, it was "over half an hour" since the stone hit. "I was bleeding so much that even while stitching up the wound, the medical staff had to change the bandages twice. The bandages were soaked in blood."
On Monday, he said he is still feeling weak. "I am finding it hard to walk or speak for long."
At least two other police personnel, superintendent of police Anshuman Kumar and Inspector Shailesh Prasad, suffered injuries.
The violence in Ranchi took place on a day when cities across at least nine states witnessed huge protests over remarks by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, who was Delhi BJP's media unit head before being expelled from the party.
City police chief Anshuman Kumar confirmed that two people died of gunshot injuries. One of the dead was a 22-year-old man and the other was a 16-year-old boy.