Violence and arson marred the celebration of Ambedkar Jayanti in Mundet village under Mangalur area, 15 km from Roorkee, as an enraged mob set ablaze vehicles on Friday morning after the posters featuring the chief architect of the Indian Constitution and a towering Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar were found torn and burnt.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, heavy police force was rushed to the area. Finding the angry mob on the berserk, police resorted to baton charge, an action that initially escalated the violence as the aggrieved villagers indulged in stone pelting, injuring two persons, including a police officer.
Violence erupted in the morning when the villagers belonging to the Dalit community came out on the streets to vent anger over the burning of Ambedkar’s posters by some miscreants. They staged a road block on Deoband highway and torched a two-wheeler.
One of them identified as Kallu and another attempted self- immolation by sprinkling kerosene on them. The bid was foiled as police intervened. Soon stone pelting followed that left two, including a police officer, injured.
Speaking to The Pioneer, SSP Krishna Kumar V K said, “During stone pelting, one of our officers, CO Parikshit Kumar and a political leader from Jhabreda were hurt. Parikshit had six stitches made on his head. PAC contingents and some other paramilitary forces were rushed. The situation now is tense, though under control.”
In a separate incident, tension gripped Bhagwanpur area when a procession taken out by the Dalit community people to mark the day came near a Masjid. When police stopped the procession they turned violent. “We intervened as the area is communally vulnerable. However, things were amicably settled,” said SSP Krishna Kumar.