UP: Ambedkar statue vandalised in Firozabad; police restore it to avoid tension

AGRA: Tension prevailed in the remote areas of UP's Firozabad district, after unknown miscreants vandalised a statue of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in the early morning on Thursday.
The incident occurred in Nagla Ramkuwar village of Narkhi police jurisdiction. Police force was roped in to disperse the crowd, who had gathered to see the vandalised structure.
Speaking to TOI, Lokender Singh, station house officer of Narkhi, said, “Unknown miscreants have used a hammer to vandalise the Ambedkar statue, which clearly suggests that someone with pre-planned intention had done to trigger outrage in the mixed population area.”
The entire statue of Ambedkar was hammered to bring it down.
“Seeing the growing agitation, we called a craftsman to restore the statue. We have lodged an FIR against unknown persons under IPC section 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class),” said officer.
He said, "Nagla Ramkuwar has not a single case registered in our police station till date; the village is known for peace and tranquility. We will soon arrest the accused involved in vandalism."
Incidents of vandalizing the statue of Ambedkar have increased in past one month in Agra zone.
Last year on April 11, an Ambedkar statue was vandalised in Nagla Jhaman village of Tundla police jurisdiction.
Then on April 5, two Ambedkar statues were vandalised in Nagla Nandi village area of Sirsaganj police jurisdiction, Firozabad and Shivsinghpur village of Kotwali Nagar, Etahdistrict.
Similarly, on march 27, Ambedkar statue was vandalised in Jalesar area of Etah district, while on March 3, after holi celebration, statue of the father of Indian constitution was vandalised.
In 2017 too in Etah, Ambedkar statue was vandalized in Malawan area, while its neighboring district Kasganj reported back to back disfigured statue of Ambedkar in 2016 before Independence day.