Protesters demanding the demolition of an illegal portion of a mosque in Shimla’s Sanjauli area were lathi-charged by security forces on Wednesday after they broke police barricades during a demonstration.

Raising slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hindu Ekta Zindabad”, hundreds of protestors gathered at the Sabzi Mandi Dhalli and marched towards Sanjauli, defying prohibitory orders and ignoring warnings by the administration to lodge their protest and broke barricades erected near the Dhalli tunnel.