A group of women in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district on Wednesday clashed with the police while trying to perform Hindu prayers at a mausoleum site, sparking tensions in the area, PTI reported.

The nearly 500-year-old mausoleum, located in Fatehpur’s Abu Nagar area, is of Nawab Abdul Samad Khan, an official who worked for Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Hindutva groups have claimed that the structure was constructed after razing a Hindu temple.

Around 6 pm on Wednesday, about 20 Hindu women, carrying earthen lamps and prayer material, approached the barricades around the mausoleum, PTI quoted Additional Superintendent of Police Mahendra Pal Singh as saying.

The site has been barricaded by the police because of ongoing litigation pertaining to it.

Some women on Wednesday allegedly tried to remove or climb over the barriers, after which the police tried to restrain them, the news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying.

The women engaged in an argument with Station House Officer Tarkeshwar Rai, and accused the police of misconduct. They eventually performed Hindu prayers from a nearby lane in front of the structure.

Videos on social media showed them praying amid heavy security presence.

A first information report has been filed against 20 unidentified women under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to obstructing or assaulting a public servant, criminal intimidation and use of criminal force, PTI quoted the additional superintendent of police as saying.

No arrests have been made till now.

On August 11, members of Hindutva groups, including the Bajrang Dal, allegedly vandalised parts of the mausoleum and tried to pray inside the structure. The Opposition had alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the area had incited the Hindutva groups to take over the mausoleum.

The site has been placed under tight security since then.

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