Bajrang Dal workers and activists of some right wing Hindu groups on Friday forced a newly-married inter-faith couple in Moradabad to call off their wedding reception despite 50 of the protesters being detained, police said.

The couple was to host the wedding reception on Valentine’s Day in the Civil Lines area of Moradabad. While the woman is from Moradabad, the man who is a Muslim hails from Bijnor. Parents of neither had any objection to the marriage, police said.

“In fact, we were informed about the protest by the parents of the couple who said the protestors had got to know about the reception from the invitation cards that were sent out by them,” said a police official of the Kotwali police station.

Bajrang Dal workers alleged that this was a case of “love jihad” since the woman was a Hindu and the man a Muslim. “Love jihad”, a term coined by rightwingers, is the alleged effort by Muslim men in targeting women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.

“The girl came to know the Muslim boy while she was completing her graduation from a degree college in Moradabad. The boy used to work in a company which was just opposite the girl’s college,” said Amit Singh of the Bajrang Dal. He alleged that the boy initially hid his identity from the girl and “lured her into his trap”.

The protestors said they would not allow the wedding reception at the venue and also demanded that the couple be ousted from the apartment.

Superintendent of Police Moradabad, Amit Singh, however, said the couple had nothing to be afraid of. “Protesters have been detained. Police protection will be given to the couple and the function can be held. They (couple) can go ahead with their wedding reception,” he said.

The police have detained 50 such volunteers, following which hundreds of their supporters and associates gathered outside the police lines where they had been kept in custody, demanding their release.