Cops fire to end temple clash in AP; 14 hurt

Two people, including a five-year-old boy, were injured when the police opened fire to disperse two groups which clashed near a temple in Kharkhana in Secunderabad on Monday.

Twelve others, including seven policemen, were injured in police caning and stone-throwing by the mob.

The rival groups set fire to a police jeep and three scooters belonging to constables, according to Deputy Police Commissioner C R Naidu.

The trouble began around midnight on Sunday when the temple committee members, headed by one Sridhar, prevented his rival Ramesh's group from bringing a cart with offering to the god into the temple premises.

When the police tried to intervene, they were attacked, injuring a sub-inspector and six constables. The groups also threw stones at passing vehicles.

The police fired eight rounds when caning proved ineffective.

The injured were sent to the Gandhi government hospital and later admitted to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. They were out of danger, Naidu said.

Meanwhile, about 100 activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party resorted to road blockade near the temple on Monday afternoon protesting against the police firing.

Some buses were reportedly damaged by the agitators. Police detained more than a dozen BJP activists to clear the road for vehicular traffic.

UNI