Belagavi: The grand immersion procession of public Ganesha idols this year was the longest ever procession in the history of Belagavi at nearly 25 hours. The procession began on Sunday at 5pm and ended on Monday at 6.30pm. The last idol to be immersed was the one installed by the Belagavi City corporation (BCC).The procession, which normally ends by the second day noon, lasted till evening this year, reflecting the growing popularity of the festival in the city. Youths were seen dancing enthusiastically to the music played on the sound systems on the second day too.About 378 public Ganesha idols were taken out in the procession and were immersed at six different ponds in the city including Kapileshwar pond, Jakkeri Honda, Angol and Fort Lake. Over 25 idols were waiting in queue at Kapileshwar pond for immersion at 9am on Monday. Police had to resort to mild lathi charge to control the youth who were not allowing the procession to move faster.Tension prevailed for a while when two mandals vied for the fame to be the last one to immerse the idol. Police intervened and arranged for immersion of the two idols in two different ponds. As decided earlier by the deputy commissioner, the idol installed by the city corporation was immersed in the end.7 arrested for stone peltingStone pelting incidents were reported at Veerbhadra Nagar and Shivaji Nagar, Shetti Galli, Khadak Galli and Court area.Commissioner of police DC Rajappa said that seven people were arrested in connection with Veerbhadra Nagar stone pelting incident and five were booked in connection with Shetti Galli and Bhadkal Galli incidents. “We are still investigating these cases. Some more people will be taken into custody during enquiry,” he said.Meanwhile, residents of Veerbhadra Nagar and Shivaji Nagar staged protest at the DC office premises complaining that innocent youths have been taken into custody and they should be released immediately.

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