At least 12 people were injured after a mob attacked a prayer meet in Maharashtra’s Kohlapur district on Tuesday, 25 December.
The victims were attending the Sunday Mass at the residence of Bhimsen Chauhan in Kolhapur's Kowad village, located on the Karnataka border, when the incident happened around noon, a police official said. According to police, Chavan regularly conducts the Sunday prayer at his residence.
A group of 10 to 15 masked men armed with swords, iron rods and glass bottles on motorcycles, attacked the congregation, a police official said.
The perpetrators hurled stones on those attending the prayer and tried to barge into the house. But some women, who were part of the prayer meet, forced the attackers to back off by throwing chilly powder on them, the official said.
According to the police official, twelve people who were injured in the attack have been admitted to the hospital.
The exact reason behind the attack was not yet known, but prima facie it seems the intention was to disturb the prayer, the official said.
Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh has been supervising the investigation.
According to the investigation, the attackers had come from Karnataka’s Belagavi. The CCTV footage of the area is also being scanned,the police official said, and expressed hope that the attackers would be nabbed soon.
The police have registered a case of rioting and attempt to murder against the unidentified persons, the official added.
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