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Ambedkar idol installed to save illegally-made house from demolition in MP village
Morena superintendent of police said villagers had constructed a few houses on government land and they attacked a team of officials that had arrived for demolition.
A group of people renamed a residential house in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district as Ambedkar Bhawan by installing a six feet idol of iconic Dalit leader, BR Ambedkar, overnight to allegedly save three illegally constructed houses from a demolition drive against encroachment on government land, district police said on Thursday.
Heavy police force was deployed at Chaina village of Morena district as a large number of people sat on dharna in front of the Ambedkar’s idol against the drive of the district administration.
Morena district collector Anurag Verma said, “The idol of Dr B R Ambedkar has been installed overnight in an illegally constructed house on Wednesday. We have asked the villagers to remove the idol respectfully. We have given an ultimatum of two days to them. Further action will be taken in the matter after two days.”
Morena, superintendent of police, Anurag Sujaniya said, “ A joint team of police and district administration has been trying to demolish the houses constructed on government land in Chaina village for the past two days. On Tuesday, villagers attacked the team and injured two government employees.”
“Police also registered a case against 10 people including Bhim Army district president Manoj Samil and an owner of the illegally constructed house, Jagdish Tagore, under section 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assaults or use of criminal force to stop a public servant) and 146 (rioting) of Indian Penal Code (IPC),” he added.
Police arrested Manoj Samil and are trying to nab Tagore and eight others, the SP said.
A villager Pran Singh, who is sitting on dharna, said, “The villagers spent all their money in constructing their houses and now the district administration wants to demolish it. The idol was installed to save the villagers from the injustice of the district administration.”
