Twelve persons, including two policemen, were injured as members of two communities clashed on Thursday over the construction of a mosque in Loni area of Ghaziabad, the police said.

According to the police, the locals who suffered injuries were admitted to several hospitals in the area, while the policemen were shifted to the Civil Hospital in Ghaziabad.

Four companies of armed police personnel and policemen from Sahibabad police station were deployed to restore peace in the area. Police said at least 500 people were involved in the incident.

“There were differences between the two communities over the construction of a structure around the mosque near Nithori Chowki. The land on which the proposed structure was to come up belonged to the Land Management Committee of the Panchayat. The two groups were called to the police station this morning and the problems were resolved,” said a police official.

“However, the situation flared up when the group supporting the construction fired in the air to scare three members of the other group on their way back from the police station,” SP (City) Vijay Bhushan said.

After the firing, members of the two groups clashed pelting stones at each other. The situation went out of control when more and more people from neighbouring areas joined the fight. It took a couple of hours for the police to control the situation, officials said.

“Both groups were armed with lathis and sharp-edged weapons. They smashed the windshields of several vehicles and set several others on fire. A bus of the Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, along with a truck, a car and two motorbikes were set on fire,” an official of the Loni police station said.

... contd.