Minutes after the statue was installed by Dalits, some people allegedly came and pulled it down. This led to protest and eventual rioting. Cops fired tear gas shells to control violent mob.
An incident in which a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was vandalised in Morbi road area of Rajkot sparked violence in the city and also led to large scale protest by Dalits. An FIR has been lodged against eight people belonging to the minority community.
"The B division police have lodged a complaint against some people following the incident and are investigating the matter," said, Geetha Johri, Rajkot Police Commissioner.
Talking about the incident, she said that on Thursday some people pulled down a newly installed statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. "The incident happened at 11 in the morning and the statue was installed by residents of Gandhi Vasahat to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar," she said. Vinod Parghi, a resident of Gandhi Vasahat of Morbi road area lodged a complaint with the B division police against Mohammad Karim, Abraham, Sattar and few others, all residents of Khatkiwad which is opposite to Gandhi Vasahat.
Parghi alleged in the complaint that people from Khatkivad had vandalised the statue of Dr. Ambedkar to avenge a scuffle that had taken place between one Nilesh Makwana and residents of Khatkivad. The scuffle had happened a week ago and a complaint was later lodge by Makwana.
The residents of Gandhi Vasahat also gave a memorandum to police commissioner about the same. According to police sources, Dalit residents of Gandhi Vasahat first installed the statue on Thursday morning and then took out a rally to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti.
But when they returned from the rally, they found the statue lying on the ground few meters from the podium. Soon a crowd of Dalits gathered and began stone pelting on Khatkiwad, a minority dominated colony.
The enraged mob also set tyres and other materials on fire. The police lobbed three tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Police convoy and fire brigade rushed to the spot.
Mayanksinh Chavda, DCP, also tried to cool tempers and promised Dalit leaders that they will take immediate action against those involved in the incident. Additional police force was deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.
Soon news about the same spread and Dalits across the city came out on roads to protest the same. But police managed to control the situation. Policemen were also deployed in sensitive areas of the city. Some reports said that police had also detained 25 youth from Gandhigram area who were protesting against the incident. But no official confirmation on the same was available.
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