Mangaluru: Five persons from Mangaluru were reportedly detained on Friday night at Thirthahalli, in connection with the murder of 32-year-old Vishwanath, who was killed during the communal clash near Gajanur on the outskirts of Shivamogga.

Unconfirmed sources said that the five persons belonging to the Popular Front of India (PFI) organization were arrested by the police, when they were returning by a car to the city, after attending a rally in Shivamogga. However, PFI president M. Attaullah denied any such arrest of their members.

In total, the police have taken into custody at least 20 persons in connection the communal clash, it’s learnt.

Earlier, tension began when a group of men threw stones at PFI activists during their march at Ameer Ahmed Circle around 4:30 pm. Nearly 900 PFI activists from various parts of Shivamogga district were taking out the march to mark the outfit’s founders’ day.

During the march, PFI cadre are said to have raised slogans against a Hindu organization. Police had to cane the troublemakers to prevent the situation from going out of control.

Minutes after the communal clash, which erupted in Shivamogga, Vishwanath was attacked and murdered in Gajanur, while he was riding towards Bhadravathi.

Attaullah said that the communal clash erupted at the end of the rally. Meantime, a lot of crowd including those from Mangaluru were returning, he said and added that their vehicles were stoned by unidentified activists near Gajanur. “We called up the police and the situation was brought under control”, he added.