Police in India have arrested 14 people after communal violence broke out during a Hindu religious procession in New Delhi.

Indian authorities said Hindu and Muslim groups in Jahangirpuri, a neighborhood in northwest New Delhi, threw stones at each other during a religious procession celebrating the birth of the Hindu god, Hanuman.

It follows similar reports of religious clashes in recent weeks between the majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities at religious processions across the country.

At least nine people, including eight police officers, were injured and treated in hospital, a senior police officer told local media.

Although communal clashes have broken out ever since the British partition in 1947, observers say religious polarisation has risen under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

A string of religious attacks earlier this month, which included the death of one person and left others injured, has led to criticism of Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

(With input from AP)