The police have denied using lathi charge at the gathering.
The Madhya Pradesh police used batons to disperse people for allegedly violating guidelines and deviating from the permitted route during a procession on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, in Dhar city.
Eyewitnesses claimed that mild force was used to disperse people after a dispute over the route, but the police have denied using lathi charge at the gathering.
"There was no incident of lathi charge. A route was fixed for the Milad-un-Nabi procession, but some disruptive people got involved and insisted on taking the traditional route for the procession. Such people were forced out and the procession was later taken out peacefully," Dhar's superintendent of police Aditya Pratap Singh said.
The people responsible for the incident (violating guidelines) will be identified and action will be taken against them after investigation, the official said.
According to eyewitnesses, the procession started from Gulmohar Colony and was scheduled to return to the same place after passing through various other areas in the city.
However, the procession turned towards Mohan Talkies area when it reached Old Nagar Palika, leading to a dispute between the police and a few people in the procession, they said.
After some people from the crowd sat on the road, the police used lathi charge briefly to disperse them, the eyewitnesses claimed, adding that the procession was later taken out from Hatwara, Rajwada and concluded at Muradpura.
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