16 booked for breaking barricades during Muharram procession in Ujjain

At least 16 individuals have been booked for taking an unauthorised route and breaching police barricades during a Muharram procession in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain in the early hours of Sunday (July 6, 2025), leading to injuries to several police personnel, officials said.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 3:45 a.m. when a large group of participants allegedly forced a ceremonial horse through police barricades near the Khajurwadi Masjid under the jurisdiction of Jiwajiganj police station, resulting in the collapse of both the barricades and the horse.

A purported video of the incident surfaced on social media, purportedly showing a group of youth carrying sticks and jumping over the fallen barricades. The video also appears to show the horse collapsing and police resorting to a baton charge to disperse the crowd.

City Superintendent of Police (Jiwajiganj) Sumit Agrawal told The Hindu that the ceremonial horse belonged to one Irfan alias Lalla, who has been named in the FIR along with 15 unidentified individuals. The case has been registered under Sections 191(1)(2), 121(1), and 132 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“At least four to five of our personnel suffered injuries in the incident. They have been given treatment and X-rays have been done. We also had to resort to some lathi charge to manage the situation,” Mr. Agrawal said, adding that the procession was subsequently completed along the pre-decided route under adequate security arrangements.

“The procession concluded around 1 p.m. today [Sunday]. We are now working to arrest Irfan and identify the other individuals involved in the incident,” he said.

Mr. Agrawal said that a meeting with local community leaders had been held at the police control room a few days earlier, where the route for the procession was finalised and reconfirmed on Saturday (July 6, 2025) morning.

“This is why we had barricades in place at that point — it was not part of the agreed route. But some individuals deliberately diverted the procession and breached the barricades to create a nuisance. This seems to have been pre-planned,” he said.

“The situation is now normal and there is no tension in the area. However, we remain on alert, and adequate security deployment has been made to prevent any untoward incident,” Mr. Agrawal added.

Maksood Ali, a local Congress leader and organiser of a Muharram procession in a neighbouring locality, demanded strict action against those responsible for the breach.

“The procession was taken out on the ninth day of Muharram. As per the route, it was to go straight, but some people diverted it towards the police barricades on the road to Geeta Colony. These people tried to enter forcibly. If someone had objections [to the route], they should have raised their concerns during the meeting at the police control room,” Mr. Ali, who is also the joint secretary of the Eid Miladunnabi Juloos Committee, told reporters.

“This is how they become a laughing stock and lathi charge is done on them. Action should be taken against those responsible for this, as well as those present at the meeting, since they failed to ensure adherence to the route,” he added.