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Police had to lob tear gas shells to control protesters, who turned violent while denouncing the United States-led attacks on Afghanistan.
At least 75 people, including 50 policemen, were injured in the incident, which occurred after the Friday prayers in the old city in Hyderabad.
Around 1330 hours (IST), soon after the Friday prayers at the Mecca masjid - the biggest mosque in the old city - hundreds of youth came out of the mosque raising slogans of Allahu Akbar (Allah is great) and denouncing the attacks on Afghanistan.
Some of them held banners terming them as 'attacks on Muslims and Islam'.
While a section of the mob rushed towards the bus station complex nearby, another group tried to take out a procession and march towards the Charminar.
However, the police cordoned them off and prevented them from proceeding further. Some persons in the mob began hurling stones at the police, which led the police to use mild force to control the situation.
In the melee, some police personnel, including Additional City Police Commissioner K Aravinda Rao and Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone) S Umapathi, were hit by stones.
When lathi-charges failed to quell the mob, the police lobbed teargas shells and used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.
The police also fired some shots in the air to scare the mob.
At this, the protestors retreated into the mosque.
However, the policemen rushed in and roughed them up.
Some teargas shells fell into the mosque compound and some prayer rugs were burnt. The police took several persons into custody.
In the midst of commotion, the shop-keepers in and around Charminar downed shutters and people began running helter-skelter. Traffic was diverted and bus services were withdrawn from the Old City.
"The situation is tense but under control," a city police spokesman said.
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