Thirty people including several policemen were injured in a major clash between people belonging to Thakur and Dalit communities in Ghadkauli village in Saharanpur on Saturday, the police officials said.
The situation in the Saharanpur village and its vicinity remains tense and Provincial Arms Constabulary personnel have been deployed to prevent further violence, after a clash over the defacement of a signboard at a Dalit majority area, as well as subsequent reports that ink was thrown at a statue of Dr. Ambedkar nearby.
According to the Senior Superintendent of Police Saharanpur, R.P. Singh, the situation spun out of control after the reports of the alleged insult spread in the area.
Sound of gunshots“In no time the two communities indulged in stone-throwing. We also heard several rounds of firing. When the police tried to stop them, they attacked us. Several policemen got injured in the cross-fight,” Brijesh Kushwaha, the Circle Officer of Fatehpur police station who was also injured told The Hindu .
The police officials said that clashes between the two communities had increased in last few months, including an incident over a wedding party from one community being denied access through an area populated by the other community.
Last week, a Dalit was allegedly shot dead by Thakur community members in the adjacent Nanauta village when they found him urinating on a plot of land belonging to them.
Three men were arrested in the case, but tensions continue to simmer.
