THIS IS SAHARANPUR!
CASTE CLASH FALLOUT Irate mobs torch vehicles, vandalise police post. Half a dozen cops, ADM injured
Angry over ban on a mahapanchayat, Dalits allegedly torched vehicles, vandalised a police post and resorted to stone pelting in Saharanpur on Tuesday. At least halfadozen policemen and an additional district magistrate were injured in the clash. Dalits were also protesting the lack of action against Thakurs involved in last week’s caste skirmish.
At least half a dozen cops and an additional district magistrate were injured in a clash between police and dalits in Saharanpur on Tuesday. Angry dalits torched vehicles, vandalised a police post and beat up passersby at different places.
Police resorted to lathi-charge and fired rubber bullets to disperse the irate people in which many rioters also sustained injuries. At least six rioters were taken into custody and heavy force was deployed in the city and neighbouring villages to control the situation.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who was on a visit to Meerut on Tuesday, directed the IG (Meerut zone) Ajay Anand to bring normalcy in the city as soon as possible and initiate stern action against the perpetrators of violence.
The incident was understood to be a retaliation of dalits against the May 5 incident in Shabbirpur village in which a Thakur youth was killed and many injured in clashes between Thakurs and Dalits after a dispute over a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap. .
Dalits accused the district administration and police of atrocities on them after the incident while no action was initiated against Thakurs.
In protest, Bheem Army – an organisation of young dalits – gave a call to organise a mahapanchayat at Ambedkar Chhatravas here on Tuesday. Thousands of dalits from the city and different villages began arriving at the venue since morning to participate in the mahapanchayat.
However, the police banned the event as no permission was sought from the district administration. Cops used mild force to disperse the dalits who converged there.
Upset over the ban, dalits sat on dharna at Gandhi Bagh demanding justice. When the news reached other dalit groups, they went on the rampage and set vehicles of mediapersons and police on fire in Ramnagar village. They also vandalised Ramnagar police post and torched a bus near Nazirpura village on Meerut road. A group of dalit youths also thrashed passersby.
Saharanpur SSP Subhash Chand Dubey claimed that the rioters resorted to stone pelting, set vehicles on fire and opened fire from country-made pistols, in which at least five cops and an ADM sustained injuries.
He said cops applied force and used rubber bullets to disperse the rioters. Meanwhile, police took a few perpetrators of violence into custody and heavy force was deployed to prevent any further clashes.