Statue defiled; curfew in Maharashtra town

Curfew has been imposed in Jalna town of Maharashtra's Marathwada region, around 600 km from Mumbai, following incidents of violence after alleged desecration of a statue of B R Ambedkar on Tuesday morning, police said.

Police opened fire and used batons to disperse the crowd, which were protesting the alleged desecration, they said.

At least 10 to 12 people were injured during the protests and subsequent police action.

A few persons suffered bullet injuries

and were rushed to a local hospital, police said.

Trouble started at around 0620 hours when some people saw that the statue of Ambedkar at Kanhaiya Nagar in the town allegedly garlanded with sandals. Immediately, some activists of Dalit organisations came out on to the streets to protest against the alleged desecration, police said.

The curfew was imposed after 0830 hours, they said. The situation was tense but under control, police said, adding that no one had been arrested in the matter. A company of state reserve police had been deployed in the area to maintain law and order, they said.