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Clashes erupt in UP’s Kasganj on Ambedkar Jayanti, cop injured in stone-pelting
In Lakhimpur Kheri, Dalit groups clash over installing a statue of Ambedkar on on disputed plot
Flames billow from a vehicle set on fire after a clash broke out over the installation of BR Ambedkar statue on a disputed land, in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (PTI Photo)
Tension prevailed in parts of Kasganj, Lakhimpur Kheri and Agra districts after incidents of clashes and vandalism took place on the occasion of BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on Tuesday.
While a dispute occurred in Kasganj between groups of Dalit and Yadav communities over taking out a procession through a locality, two Dalit groups clashed in Lakhimpur Kheri over installing a statue, resulting in stone-pelting and burning of a police vehicle.
In Kasganj, the dispute occurred at Chahak Gunar village after people purportedly belonging to the Yadav community tried to stop an Ambedkar procession, police said. The group blocked the road with tractor-trolleys and other vehicles, in an attempt to send the procession back. Ambedkar’s followers insisted on taking the same route, saying they used it traditionally for the purpose, they added.
Officials rushed to the spot with police force and tried to convince people to clear the route. However, the villagers clashed with the police and threw stones at them.
Kasganj Superintendent of Police (SP) Om Prakash Singh said they used a mild force to disperse the group and cleared the way for the procession.
A police constable got injured in the stone pelting, he said. Police detained 23 people for creating the disturbance, it was learnt.
A case will be registered in this connection, said Additional Superintendent of Police Sushil Kumar Ganga Prasad.
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The SP said the motive behind obstructing the procession by members of a community was yet to be ascertained and will become clear in the investigation. Video footage of the incident has been procured and further action will be taken accordingly, he added.
In the Maigalganj area of Lakhimpur Kheri, two groups of the Dalit community clashed over putting up a statue of Ambedkar on a parcel of land and holding an event to garland it. Lucknow Range Inspector General (IG) Kiran S told The Indian Express that a group of youths reached the vacant plot belonging to the gram sabha (village panchayat) in the evening with an Ambedkar statue.
When they were putting up the statue, a woman from the same community living nearby objected, alleging the youths would later try to grab the land, he added.
The argument between the two sides escalated and turned into a clash.
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Police rushed to the spot and were also targeted by the warring groups by pelting stones, it was alleged. Some youths even set on fire a police vehicle, a Mahindra Bolero, parked nearby, the IG said. The miscreants, however, were dispersed using mild force, he added.
Peace was restored in the area amid police deployment and efforts are being made to identify these miscreants, officials said.
According to PTI, in Agra, a group of youths carrying blue flags climbed a platform where the structure of Lord Parshuram’s weapon is built and put up the flags there. A video circulated on social media anda large group of people gathered at the spot objecting to putting up the flags.
Personnel from several police stations were deployed at the spot to disperse the gathering.
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