Just a day before Muharram, police in Ujjain district, Madhya Pradesh, took action against four individuals following a viral video depicting a vehicle being suspended from a crane and detonated during a religious procession in Badnagar town. The incident, which occurred on June 23 during a Muharram event leading up to Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, involved a Tata Magic vehicle being hoisted about 40 feet in the air by a crane with two individuals standing on it waving red flags. The vehicle subsequently ruptured, resembling an explosion, attracting onlookers’ attention.
Ujjain Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Karandeep Singh informed reporters that an FIR has been filed against the procession organizer, Shoaib Khan, along with Talim Khan, Zahid Khan, and the crane owner, Gopal Mali. Singh clarified that while the procession had official approval from the administration, no authorization was granted for activities involving explosives or vehicle destruction, deeming such actions illegal and hazardous to public safety. Legal measures have been initiated against the accused under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Preliminary investigations indicated that the use of conventional explosives was unlikely in the incident. Instead, it is suspected that several festival-style rockets were simultaneously ignited, causing pressure to build up inside the vehicle due to closed windows, leading to the bursting of glass and body panels outward, mimicking an explosion. Authorities suspect the act was intended as a sensational attraction for the crowd and are probing whether safety regulations and terms of the procession permit were breached. The public has been urged not to spread unverified information about the incident until the investigation concludes.
