Tension gripped three west UP towns over the murder of a BSP leader in Meerut and desecration of Dr Ambedkar’s statue in Ferozabad and Etah respectively on Thursday.
In Meerut, suspecting the hand of BSP leader Gopi Pariya of Shobhapur hamlet in the violence during `Bharat Bandh’ on Monday, some local goons rounded up the Dalit leader on Wednesday night. Hurling expletives at him, the miscreants opened indiscriminate fire killing Pariya on the spot. They later fled the scene of crime.
The news of Pariya’s death spread and within no time, members of his community converged at the spot and raised slogans against the administration. To avert any caste clash, SSP Meerut, Manzil Saini along with senior police officers and heavy police force rushed to the area and somehow despatched the victim’s body for autopsy. Later the police claimed to have arrested two assailants - Manoj Gujjar and Kapil which somewhat cvooled the frayed tempers. The police also claimed to have recovered a pistol and said that that it was the murder weapon.
Heavy police force was patrolling the area and the situation remained tense but under control. The cremation of the victim also took place under heavy police presence on Thursday morning.
Elsewhere in Ferozabad, the right hand of a statue of Dr Ambedkar installed in Bagichi in Nagla Nandi village was found damaged in Sirsaganj police station area on Thursday morning. The incident led to strong protests by locals who demanded the immediate replacement of the statue and arrest of the culprits. Before the matter could spiral out of hand, senior officials rushed to the spot backed by police force and pacified the protestors. A case was een registered and efforts are on to nab the culprits.
In a similar case at Etah, the statue of Dr Ambedkar was vandalised in Shivsinghpur area sometime on Wednesday night and was noticed on Thursday. Members of Dalit community were enraged over the incident but timely action by the police averted any untoward incident. A case was registered and efforts were on to identify the culprits and arrest them.
Earlier to, similar incidents were reported from Siddhartnagar and Allahabad after which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed District Magistrates and SPs to initiate steps for ensuring security of statues in their respective districts and ensure that such cases were not repeated.