3, including cop hurt in clashes after Sardar Patel's statue pulled down in Ujjain (Ld)

Bhopal, Jan 25 (IANS) At least three persons, including a Sub-Inspector were injured in stone pelting on Thursday following a clash between two groups over installation of the statue of Sardar Patel in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain city.

Police said the violence occurred after the members of Bhim Army pulled down a statue of Sardar Patel, which was installed by people belonging to the Patidar community late on Wednesday.

Sources told IANS that people from the Dalit and Patidar communities have been engaged in altercations over the installation of the statue for the last few days.

While the Dalits wanted to install a statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar at the place, the Patidars wanted to put up a statue of Sardar Patel.

The issue was brought before the gram panchayat as both the communities have been staking claims on a portion of disputed land where Sardar Patel's statue was installed, sources told IANS.

Tension escalated after the Patidars installed a statue of Sardar Patel on the disputed land on Wednesday.

A furious group of Dalit people gathered at the spot the next morning and brought down the statue, leading to a direct confrontation between the two factions, police said.

Violence escalated quickly, leading to stone-pelting and the use of lathis by both groups in which two people were hurt.

The clash resulted in several vehicles being damaged and one being set on fire.

Upon receiving information, a police team tried to control the situation, during which a Sub-Inspector Lalchand Sharma sustained injuries.

Subsequently, additional police teams from some adjoining police stations were deployed and the situation was brought under control, ASP, Nitesh Bhargav said.

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