By IANS,
Raipur : Heavy police deployment was made at a Chhattisgarh village Monday after some unidentified people desecrated a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar overnight, a senior police official said.
“Extra forces have been deployed and a case has been registered against unidentified persons who desecrated the Ambedkar statue at Gopalpur village in Rajnandgaon district following a rift between the two groups,” V.K. Choubey, district superintendent of police, told reporters.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (April 14, 1891 – December 6, 1956), also known as Babasaheb, was the chief architect of the Indian constitution. He was a Buddhist revivalist.
Police say tribals and a section of the Buddhist community had a rift over job opportunities in the village, which has a population of about 1,000.
Police officials said there was tension in the tribal-dominated village, some 175 km from capital Raipur, as Buddhists took to the streets to protest the desecration of the statue and sought police action against the guilty.
Police described it as a “mischievous act of a few” and appealed to the villagers not to react to rumours aimed at disrupting social harmony in the village.