Shahjahanpur (UP), May 19 (PTI) Friday prayers here in Tilhar city were held under heavy police presence following tensions over derogatory remarks made on social media about Prophet Mohammad.

Circle Officer (CO) Priyank Jain said police and PAC personnel were deployed outside the major mosques of the city area.

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Police have also registered cases against 15 named and 150 unknown people for causing a ruckus over the post earlier.

Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Sanjay Kumar Pandey told PTI that on May 14, one Varun Dhawan had shared an objectionable post on Facebook involving Prophet Mohammad.

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In the wake of the controversy over the post, police had arrested Dhawan, a native of Dabhaura village of the district. He still remains in custody.

Pandey said that miffed by the post, several people had earlier in the week gathered outside the Tilhar Police Station even after the arrest and created a law and order situation.

The crowd could only be dispersed after appeals to peace by the administration and religious leaders.

Pandey said police and Provincial Armed Constabulary conducted flag marches in the entire city ahead of the Friday namaz and appealed to the people to maintain peace during the gatherings.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)