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| Desecration of Ambedkar statue: Three killed, 60 injured in Dalit protests | | |
MUMBAI, NOV 30
Three persons were killed, including one in police firing in Osmanabad, and more than 60 injured during violent protests across Maharashtra following the alleged desecration of B R Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur, Director General of Police P S Pasricha said today.
Authories imposed curfew in Nanded, Nandurbar and Pimpri following incidents of violence while five compartments of prestigious Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen were torched by a mob of over 6,000 people in Ulhasnagar in neighbouring Thane district.
One person was killed and another injured in police firing at Osmanabad in Marathwada, the DGP said, adding two others died in Nanded and Nasik.
Among the 60 injured were 40 policemen, the DGP said.
A protestor died after he was run over by a truck in Nanded last evening while trying to stop the traffic while one person was beaten to death by a mob in Nashik last night, Pasricha said.
Over 1,500 protestors have been arrested across the state for various incidents of stone-pelting and arson. Of them, 400 were caught indulging in violent acts.
Angry mobs torched 15 vehicles across the state and at least 100 buses have been damaged in the protests reported from Latur, Bhiwandi, Mumbai, Pimpri, Chinchawad, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Buldhana, Nashik and Nanded among other areas, he said.
"Maintaining law and order situation is our top priority and the state intelligence department is probing into the cause of protests," Pasricha said assuring that the situation will be brought under control by evening.
The mob also assaulted a railway staff member during the protest at Ulhasnagar and damaged government property at the station.
"We are in touch with railway authorities, including railway administration in Delhi to strengthen security measures for preventing such incidents," Pasricha said.
The state authorities have requisitioned central forces to bring the situation under control, the DGP said.
He also asked the media to show restraint while showing images of the incidents to avoid the situation from getting out of control.
Police is increasing its presence by deploying additional forces and increasing patrolling in sensitive areas to bring the situation under control, Pasricha said.
"It is in public interest that people should not become emotional about things. This is a reaction to an incident which has happened in Kanpur and hurts the image of Maharashtra," Pasricha said.
He appealed to the people not to believe in rumours and observe self-restraint.
Regarding the protection of various statues in the state, Pasricha said "Gradually, people who have put up the statues are getting on terms with providing security to protect them."
The current spate of clashes by the Dalits come weeks after violent protests by some groups across the state following the killing of a Dalit family at the Khairalanji town in Vidarbha's Bhandara district last month. |
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