Twenty-one police personnel were injured and three police vehicles damaged on Tuesday night in clashes that broke out during the demolition of an unauthorised dargah in Maharashtra’s Nashik city, reported The Indian Express.

The situation is under control, the police said.

The violence took place near the Satpeer Baba Dargah in the Kathe Galli area after the Nashik Municipal Corporation began to raze the structure, which had been declared illegal by the Bombay High Court.

The police said that a mob gathered at around 11.30 pm near Usmania Chowk to oppose the demolition and began throwing stones at officers and leaders from the Muslim community who tried to pacify them.

Nashik Commissioner of Police Sandeep Karnik told The New Indian Express that trustees of the Satpeer Dargah had started the process of removing the structure on Tuesday night as per the High Court order.

“Police resorted to lathi charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob and brought the situation under control,” he said. “Three police vehicles were damaged and 21 police personnel injured in the attack. The dargah was demolished in the morning [on Wednesday] and the process to file an FIR and arrest [those involved in the violence] is on.”

“Police officials present at the place also tried to pacify them, but they did not listen…,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Kirankumar Chavan told The Hindu. “The miscreants pelted stones and damaged some vehicles. Mild force was used to control them.”

Chavan added that the trustees of the dargah and area residents had agreed to remove the construction. All of them had gathered on Tuesday at 11 pm to oversee the development.

“At the same time, a crowd arrived from the direction of Usmania Chowk, and chaos broke out,” Chavan was quoted as saying. “The trustees and eminent citizens tried to reason with the mob. Senior police officers also attempted to calm the situation, but the crowd did not listen to anyone and began pelting stones.”

Chavan said that 15 persons have been detained and 57 motorcycles belonging to suspects have been seized.

The demolition involving nearly 50 municipal personnel resumed at 5.30 am on Wednesday. A large police deployment remains in place in the Kathe Galli area, where traffic has been diverted for security purposes.

Authorities said the civic body had earlier issued a 15-day notice for the removal of the unauthorised structure built around the dargah.

Several unauthorised structures surrounding the dargah had already been cleared by the Nashik Municipal Corporation’s anti-encroachment team in February. Residents and members of Hindutva organisations had called for the dargah itself to be demolished, saying that it was unauthorised.

Nashik Central MLA Devyani Pharande had also stated that the February demolition drive was incomplete and the entire site needed to be cleared.