Three Ambedkar statues vandalised in UP

Lucknow: Two days after a statue of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati was vandalised in Lucknow, three statues of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar were damaged in Azamgarh district, police said on Saturday.

Broken pieces of a statue were found in the morning in a field at Katat-Chakkatat village in Azamgarh, some 270 km from Lucknow, police said.

Two other Ambedkar statues were vandalised and thrown in the fields of the Nayi Palia and Jiyasath villages, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Mirza Manzar Beg.

The incident occurred just two days after a statue of Mayawati was vandalised in Lucknow.

Angry villagers and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers took to the streets and blocked a state highway for over four hours, protesting against the incidents.

Heavy police reinforcements were rushed to the spot and new statues of Ambedkar were installed, police said.

After this, the protestors withdrew their agitation and the traffic blockade was lifted.

Two people were arrested on Friday for damaging Mayawati's statue Lucknow. Amit Jani, president of the Uttar Pradesh Nav Nirman Sena, and his aide Rajendra were arrested Friday night from Haryana's Gurgaon city, adjoining Delhi, by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police.

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