There was tension in Rajpura town of the district after a statue of Dalit leader Bhim Rao Ambedkar was found vandalised at the ITI Chowk. Supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community gathered at the chowk in protest, demanded the registration of a criminal case and arrest of the accused.
The protest was lifted only after DSP Akashdeep Aulakh led a posse of policemen to the spot and pacified the protesters.
He assured the protesters that the statue would be replaced immdiately and accused would be held within 10 days. “The situation is under control, as we took preventive action. Efforts are on to identify and nab the accused, who vandalised the statue under the cover of the night,” the DSP said.
“This is a deliberate act to outrage the feelings of the SC community, and is also an attack on the Constitution, as Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution,” said Jatinder Singh Mattu, president, Ambedkar Employees Federation, Punjab, adding that they were seeking the addition of relevant sections of SC/ST Act to the FIRs.