Kanwariyas ‘attacked’ after group beats up 3

FARRUKHABAD ASP SAID FIR HAS BEEN LODGED AND COPS WERE MAKING EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY THOSE WHO ATTACKED

KANPUR: A group of 30 kanwariya pilgrims were attacked by dozens of villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad, about 150 km from Kanpur, late on Friday, the police said on Saturday.

The attack was in retaliation for members of the group beating three people during an altercation on the road earlier.

Additional SP, Farrukhabad, Tribhuvan Singh said an FIR has been registered with the Mau Darwaza police and they were making efforts to identify the people behind the attack. The police have taken several people into custody for questioning, he said.

One of the injured, Sheeshpal, said about 40-50 people came on motorcycles and attacked them with iron rods, ‘lathis’ and sharpedged weapons near Hathiyapur on the Delhi road. The attackers also fired gunshots at them, he told the Farrukhabad police.

Fourteen injured kanwariyas were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Farrukhabad. Four of them were critical. Kanwariyas are pilgrims who take part in the ‘Kanwad Yatra’ to towns of significance for Hindus such as Haridwar to fetch water from the Ganga. Incidents of wanton violence and random road blockades by several kanwariyas were reported from UP and parts of Delhi-ncr — including the destruction of a car in Moti Nagar that led to widespread outrage.