Meerut: Eight police personnel were injured and several govt vehicles damaged after a violent clash erupted over the alleged illegal installation of a BR Ambedkar statue at Raja Ki Sikari village in Uttar Pradesh ’s Budaun district on Tuesday night.
The first case was registered on a complaint by gram pradhan Jyoti against four named individuals—Mansingh, Meghsingh, Jaysingh and Chaman—and around 10 unidentified people for installing the statue on gram samaj land early Tuesday morning to encroach upon the property. The situation escalated after administrative and police officials spent nearly eight hours attempting to negotiate with the crowd. Protesters eventually turned violent and pelted stones at the police team, prompting authorities to use mild force to disperse the crowd and restore order. Among the injured were SHO Subhash Kumar, SI Vendra Singh Rana, head constable Hitler Khan, constables Vineet Kumar and Preeti, along with a local resident. Vehicles belonging to senior administrative officials, including SDM, tehsildar and naib tehsildar, as well as police vehicles from multiple stations and a fire tender were vandalised. Police have registered two separate FIRs in connection with the violence and detained eight individuals so far. Police rejected local reports claiming the statue was damaged during the clash, confirming that video footage is currently being analysed to identify the remaining rioters.