Calm returns in Aligarh after flare-up over installing Ambedkar statue; SP, BSP call for peace

Aligarh (UP), Jan 29 (PTI) Tensions eased at Bheempur village in Aligarh district on Wednesday, a day after violent clashes broke out over the installation of a statue of BR Ambedkar that left two policemen injured.

Two groups, both laying claim to a patch of land in the village, clashed after one side began installing a statue of Ambedkar there. Four two-wheelers were set afire in the ensuing arson..

Opposition leaders, including those from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), visited the village on Wednesday and appealed for restoration of peace and normalcy in the area.

Police have booked 171 persons, 150 of them unnamed, under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 191 (rioting), 190 (unlawful assembly), and 121 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), among others.

Santosh Kumar Jatav, the Uttar Pradesh unit chief of Samajwadi Baba Saheb Ambedkar Vahini, visited the village with a delegation of SP leaders on Wednesday and called for restoration of peace in the area.

He urged both groups to settle the dispute amicably, and appealed to the district administration to avoid any action that could reignite tension.

Jatav also demanded the release of all those detained or arrested in connection with the clash, emphasising that such a step would help restore normalcy at the earliest.

Authorities, meanwhile, remain on high alert to prevent any further escalation of violence, while efforts are underway to mediate between the two rival groups. The trouble began when one group started to install a statue of Ambedkar on a piece of land which the district authorities said belonged to the Gram Sabha.

When the other group laid claim to the land to build a statue of a deity, it triggered a row. The first group blamed its rival, claiming the latter started building a temple on the same patch of land three days back. PTI COR ABN ARI