'I Love Muhammad' Protest in Bareilly Turns Violent After Friday Prayers; Police Resort to Lathi-Charge

"I Love Muhammad" protest turned violent in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district after Friday prayers (September 26) when agitators allegedly chanted “Allahu Akbar” slogans and tried to enter Islamia Maidan despite police blockage. Seeing this, the police confronted protestors who later lathicharged to stop a crowd from forcibly entering, after which chaos erupted in the area. 

In UP's Bareilly, police opened lathicharge and dispersed a huge crowd of people who had gathered to submit a memorandum to the adminstration over the "I love Mohammad" banner controversy. Reports of crowd resorting to stonepelting triggering lathicharge has also surfaced. pic.twitter.com/EcqDpVr79P

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) September 26, 2025

According to reports, the incident took place near the Ala Hazrat Mosque, creating chaos in the area. Several people were reportedly injured in the police lathi charge. Police continued patrolling, while officials urged residents to stay indoors.

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Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh: After Friday prayers, people protested carrying “I Love Muhammad” banners, chanting slogans such as “Allahu Akbar.” When police tried to calm the protesters and the situation got out of control, they resorted to a baton charge to restore order pic.twitter.com/QEO85o5j5P

— IANS (@ians_india) September 26, 2025

Fearing a further escalation, additional forces were called in from neighbouring districts. Bareilly has effectively been turned into a cantonment, with around 5,000 police personnel deployed. Drone surveillance is also being carried out. The UP Police were already on alert in view of Friday prayers, with heavy deployment outside mosques and vehicle checks underway.