Uttar Pradesh Police arrested 11 people including three women for pelting stones at personnel who were trying to remove a statue of BR Ambedkar from the Bhadohi area after it was illegally installed overnight. A senior police official said that two cops got injured during the stone-pelting incident. Circle Officer (CO) Bhubaneshwar Kumar Pandey said the police used "minor force" to disperse the violent crowd in the Bhadohi police station area, reported news agency PTI.
Station House Officer (SHO) of Kotwali police station Ajay Seth said that a case in the matter has been registered against 51 persons, including 21 named persons under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC.
CO Pandey while talking about the statue said that it was installed on a platform on Friday night on the land which was designated legally for a pond in Mushilatpur village in the city Kotwali area. He added that on receiving a complaint, senior police and administrative officials reached the spot and asked the locals to remove the statue but they didn't follow the directive.
After this when the officials tried to remove the statue then the crowd became violent and started pelting stones at the officers. The officials were then forced to use lathi-charge in order to disperse the protestors, reported PTI. The injured personnel were rushed to a hospital.
The CO said that tensions prevailed in the area and additional police force was deployed so that law and order could be maintained. He further said that efforts are being made to arrest the others who were also involved in the said violence. The statue is now at the police station, reported PTI.