Meerut: A petty dispute over payment for a pack of bidis on Sunday night resulted in a clash involving Samajwadi Party workers and Bajrang Dal activists in Shamli.Police force of all three thanas of Shamli had to be rushed to the spot to control the situation. Police nabbed 12 individuals from both sides but on Monday, seven SP men, including local SP leader Rashid Ahmad, were booked.A heavy police force has been deployed in the area. After Rashid Ahmad was arrested, newly elected MP from Kairana constituency, Tabassum Hasan, approached Shamli SP, requesting an impartial inquiry into the matter. “I have asked the police administration to conduct an impartial inquiry into the matter and that no one must be harassed,” she said.According to police, a local Bajrang Dal leader’s father runs a small shop in Barkhandi locality of Shamli. A group of three Muslim youth bought a pack of bidis but refused to pay for it.This led to an altercation and both groups called their respective supporters. It soon snowballed into a clash between Bajrang Dal members and a group led by local SP leader Rashid Ahmad with both sides indulging in stone-pelting and firing.According to Shamli’s superintendent of police Dinesh Kumar, “On Monday, seven people were booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Efforts are on to nab the culprits.”

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