8 arrested after violence over Ambedkar statue installation in UP's Budaun
Violence erupted in Budaun's Raja ki Sikri village during an attempt to install an Ambedkar statue on government land. Police have filed two FIRs, arrested eight people and say the statue is safe as security remains tight.
Two FIRs have been registered and eight people arrested following violence over an attempt to install a statue of B R Ambedkar in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun district, police said on Wednesday.
The cases were filed after a dispute over the statue installation in Raja Ki Sikri village escalated into stone-pelting at police and administrative teams on Tuesday evening. Seven police personnel and a villager were injured, while several government vehicles were damaged, officials said.
Budaun Senior Superintendent of Police Ankita Sharma said the first FIR was registered on the complaint of the station house officer of Faizganj Behta police station. It names 32 people, including several unidentified men and women.
The accused have been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those related to rioting, causing hurt to public servants, obstructing public servants in the discharge of their duties, damaging property and attempt to murder. Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, has also been invoked, police said.
The second FIR was registered on the complaint of the village head and names four people, including Man Singh. Police said the complaint alleges a conspiracy to occupy gram sabha land by attempting to install the statue there.
Those named in the second case have been booked under Sections 329(3) and 61(2) of the BNS, along with Sections 3 and 5 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, according to police.
Sharma said the vehicles of Biswauli Sub-Divisional Magistrate Priyanka and Circle Officer Anshuman Srivastava were targeted during the stone-pelting. Other police and administrative vehicles, along with a PAC vehicle and an ambulance, were also damaged.
Police conducted raids overnight and arrested eight people. Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend others involved in the violence, the SSP said.
The incident followed a dispute between villagers and the administration over an attempt to install the Ambedkar statue on government land. According to the administration, the land is recorded as a village community threshing ground and permission had not been obtained for the installation.
Police also rejected reports that the statue was damaged during the incident, describing them as "completely false and baseless".
According to police, the statue was brought to the site and an attempt was made to install it late on Monday night. It has since been kept safely at the tehsil premises.
A large police force has been deployed in the village and the situation is currently peaceful, Sharma said.