SRINAGAR, Jan 28: Police used tear-gas and batons to break up a Muharram procession in the Indian-held Kashmir on Sunday, injuring 10 people, one of them seriously.

According to officials, security forces also detained 40 of the near-400 strong Muharram gathering in Srinagar, said Feroz Ahmed, a local police officer.

Large public gatherings have been banned in Indian-held Kashmir for the past 18 years because of security concerns.

On Saturday evening, the police placed a Shia cleric Maulana Abbas Ansari under house arrest. Maulana Ansari is a senior leader of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference. “It is interference in religious matters. I don't understand why the government is not allowing us to perform our religious duties,” Maulana Ansari said.—AP