At least 25 persons were detained for questioning in connection with the vandalism of an inauguration plaque with the Ashoka emblem in the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar, PTI reported on Sunday.

They were detained based on security camera videos of the incident that took place on Friday.

No one has been arrested so far, the news agency quoted an unidentified police officer as saying.

The Islamic shrine houses a holy relic of Prophet Muhammad. The structure had recently undergone a renovation and was inaugurated by Darakshan Andrabi, the chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board and a Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

A plaque featuring the national emblem was installed at the site after it was renovated. Political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, however, said that placing a sculpted figure at the dargah hurt religious sentiments, as Islam forbids idol worship.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticised the use of the national emblem on the plaque, stating that the symbol was meant for government functions and not religious institutions.

Peoples Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti said that it was “deeply shocking” and “absurd” that the police had filed an FIR “knowing well that religious sentiments were deliberately hurt” at the shrine.

She said on social media that the Waqf comprises entirely of Muslims “yet they showed utter disdain and insensitivity” and that “they are the ones who should be booked immediately”.

On the other hand, the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit claimed that the National Conference was supporting the “shameful incident” of protesters damaging the national emblem.

On Friday, protesters allegedly damaged the plaque with stones and shouted slogans, saying that the emblem went against Islamic principles.

Videos of the vandalism were widely shared on social media.

On Saturday, the police registered a first information report in the matter under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to voluntarily disturbing an assembly lawfully performing religious worship or ceremonies, intentional insults intended to provoke a breach of the peace or another offence, rioting, cause wrongful loss or damage and criminal conspiracy.

The FIR also invoked the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act.

Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi said on Sunday that he was anguished by persons being detained by the police in connection with the vandalism.

“Such actions, driven by operational retribution, come at a time when reconciliation and empathy from the administration are most required,” Mehdi said on social media.

The National Conference leader added: “It is disheartening that this issue is being distorted as a misplaced test of nationalism, thereby vilifying the people of Kashmir.”

Andrabi, however, said that the vandalism was a “grave insult” to the shrine and described it as “nothing less than terrorism”, Greater Kashmir reported.

She urged the Union government and the law enforcement agencies to arrest persons involved in the act, claiming that it was “deliberately engineered by political workers and their supporters”.