After Ratnagiri mosque gates rammed during religious procession, police say there was no forcible entry

Alleged gate ramming at Ratnagiri mosque during Holi procession sparks controversy, refuted by police, AIMIM demands action.

A group of people allegedly rammed the gates of a mosque in Ratnagiri’s Rajapur village during the annual Shimga procession on Wednesday (March 12, 2025), according to viral videos and eyewitness accounts. However, Ratnagiri police on Thursday refuted the accounts of forcible entry, saying that there had only been some aggressive sloganeering during the procession, which is a traditional part of Holi celebrations in the Konkan region. A misleading reel about the incident has been deleted, police added.

An FIR has been registered for sloganeering and unlawful assembly. A local Muslim lawyer has sought a stronger FIR and strict action against the culprits. Terming it an “attack” on the mosque, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) slammed the Maharashtra government over the incident.

The incident took place at around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the village’s Jawahar Chowk, during the Shimga procession, eyewitnesses told The Hindu. The procession, carrying a long wooden tree trunk known as a Madachi miravnuk, starts from Sakhalkarwadi in Rajapur village and ends two kilometres away at the Dhopeshwar temple. By tradition, the trunk is placed for a few minutes on the steps of the mosque along the way.

“Every year they bring the trunk till the doorstep [of the mosque]; we also go to watch the procession. This time too, they came till the steps. I don’t know what made them ram the trunk into the gate. In the first attempt, they broke the gate and came in. We pushed them outside and closed the gate, they again dashed the trunk aggressively into the gate. At least two people got injured in this from the mob,” said an eyewitness, who was standing inside the mosque’s gate. 

A member of the Rajapur gram panchayat confirmed the incident as well, but wished to remain anonymous. “Every five years, a procession is carried, during Holi celebrations, taking a few minutes halt at the steps of the mosque. This is done to honour the goddess, Nina Devi,” he said. “It has always been a peaceful procession, but this time the matter escalated. We were in the crowd, everyone was dancing, singing, and suddenly we saw a few people aggressively ram the trunk into the mosque gates,” he added. 

Videos of the incident have gone viral, in which people can be heard raising slogans.

The Ratnagiri police refuted reports of a Hindu mob trying to forcibly enter a mosque during the Holi celebration.