Tension prevails in Bhima Koregaon after stone pelting between two groups

A riot like situation prevailed at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district after two groups entered into stone pelting following an altercation on Monday. Lakhs of people had gathered at Bhima Koregaon to commemorate the 200 years of battle between Peshwas and Soldiers of East India Company consisting soldiers largely from Dalit community. 

Earlier in the day, Dalit activist and newly elected MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani and others visited the memorial at Bhima Koregaon. He was in the city to participate in a conference organised on the occasion of 200 years of the battle at Bhima Koregaon which is considered as a symbolic victory of Dalit community. 

While Mevani left the site, lakhs of people kept gathering at the venue. According to police, while the people in groups were gathering at Bhima Koregaon, a small group from another community carried out a rally in a nearby village. That group had some altercations with the other group which was visiting the memorial and soon the situation turned violent.  According to police, the crowd suddenly became violent and they started pelting stones on vehicles and houses. "The crowd started beating some of the villagers. Some of the houses in the villages were also damaged," a police officer said. 

Soon police, deployed additional force and brought the situation under control. The police had blocked the traffic of Pune- Ahmednagar road as a precautionary measure. After two to three hours of tensed situation, police managed to bring the situation under control and traffic could be resumed by evening.