Mumbai, April 10
Tension is running high in Maharashtra’s sensitive Marathwada region after a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was desecrated this morning.
According to the state police control room, the statue, located in the Kanhaiyanagar colony in the town of
Jalna, was found desecrated by members of the local Dalit community, who immediately hit the streets.
The statue of Dr Ambedkar was found garlanded with slippers, provoking anger among Dalits.
Angry protesters took to the streets and attempted to force traffic off the roads.
After several state transport buses were set afire, the police opened fire, injuring at least 20 persons. The police, however, denied media reports that curfew was clamped across Jalna following the incident.
State home department officials said in Mumbai that contingents of the Rapid Action Force and the State Reserve Police had been pressed into service to bring
normalcy.
Jalna district superintendent of police Chiranjeev Prasad told reporters that the police had to open fire as the rampaging mobs had already set vehicles on fire and were throwing stones at the police.
About 15 state transport buses were burnt in the area. Senior police officials received severe injuries in the violence.
Deputy superintendent of police T.R. Singh sustained severe injuries on his head and is now in the ICU while additional SP Rajendra Dahale and subdivisional magistrate Vijay Waghmare also sustained injuries.
