Protests grip Mandi over illegally built mosque; cops use water cannon to disperse crowd

Mandi: Police used water cannons on Friday to disperse protestors demanding the demolition of a mosque built on encroached land in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi town.

The protestors initially held a march in the Mandi market area and sat on a dharna at Seri manch. Later, when they made attempts to proceed towards the mosque, police stopped them and used water cannons to bring the situation under control.

Security had been beefed up by the police in Mandi with the deployment of heavy force after Hindu outfits gave the call for a protest march.

On Thursday, members of the Muslim community had themselves demolished an unauthorised portion of the mosque located on Jail Road in the town.

The mosque stands on land belonging to the public works department. Both the PWD and the municipal corporation had served notices to the mosque management over this.