Police have arrested five people in India for assaulting some international students in a university hostel while offering Ramadan prayers.

Officials said there was a big fight at Gujarat University in western India on Saturday over the location of the prayer, BBC reports.

Police sources disclosed that five students were treated for injuries as a result of the fight.

Confirming the incident, Indias foreign ministry said that the Gujarat government was taking strict action against the perpetrators.

Also, the police commissioner of Ahmedabad city, GS Malik, told newsmen that about two dozen people entered the hostel on Saturday night and objected to the students offering prayers, asking them to do so in a mosque.

They argued over the issue, assaulting them and hurling stones. They also vandalised their rooms, he said, adding that a team had been formed to investigate the case.

Another senior police official, Tarun Duggal, told BBC Gujarati that the names of the five arrested men are Hitesh Mewada, Bharat Patel, Shitij Pandey, Jitendra Patel and Sunil Dudhirua.

Tensions over Muslims praying in public have occurred in India before. In 2021, Muslims praying in public areas in Gurgaon faced disruptions and protests from Hindu extremist groups.

Recently, a police officer in Delhi was suspended after a video showed him kicking Muslim men who were praying by the roadside. (The PUNCH)