Protests after statue of Ambedkar found damaged

Ghaziabad, Apr 15: A statue of B R Ambedkar was vandalised by unidentified persons at Muradnagar here, leading to tension in the area, police said today (April 15).

According to police, when the followers reached the block development office to pay their tributes to the leader on his 120th birth anniversary on Thursday, April 14, they apparently found his statue damaged, agitated over which they jammed the national highway and indulged in stone pelting.

Police brought the situation under control by repairing the damaged portion of the statue, besides assuring the crowd of replacing it with a new one.

The Ambedkar statue which was installed here around 20 years ago has not been unveiled till date due to a pending court case.

Every year followers of the dalit leader pay their tributes by uncovering it for a brief period, police said.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a 13-year-old boy was crushed to death last night by a tractor during the birth anniversary celebrations of Dr Ambedkar at Modinagar area, around 22 kms from here.

The victim identified as Vishal, fell down from one of the vehicle of a procession near oil mill gate and was crushed to death by a tractor passing from there. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead.

PTI