Calls for protest were being made in Nagina for a few days, but elders were wary of violence during it. Thus, after the Friday prayers at the local jama masjid, the mosque’s imam appealed to the crowd to not protest and head home.

Most left but 100-150 young men and boys between the ages of 13 to 25 wanted to walk till Gandhi Chowk in solidarity with the protesters across the country. However, the congregation grew tense right outside the mosque – the police resorted to lathi- charge and the men threw stones.

Many ran to the roof of the SBI Bank (see below) and were detained by the police.