Members of two communities clashed and pelted stones at each other after the statue of former deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was pulled down by some unidentified miscreants in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district on Thursday morning, January 25.
In a video of the incident, which went viral on social media, a group of people were seen pulling down the statue with a tractor. They wanted a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar to be installed at the site instead of Patel’s, police sources said. Heavy security has been deployed in the Makdone area, located about 50 km from the district headquarters, where the incident took place, Ujjain police said.
The statue of Patel was installed at the site close to the Makdone bus stand late Wednesday night. Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Nitesh Bhargav told news agency PTI over the phone that they were inquiring when the statue was installed. An investigation is underway, after which cases would be registered, he said.
Asked about how many people were injured in the stone-pelting, he said, “No one has reported to us about it so far.” “Additional police force has been deployed. The situation is completely under control. We have removed the stones that were hurled by (members of) the two communities from the spot in the Makdone area,” Bhargav said.