Caste violence spreads to MP, 10 vehicles set on fire

Caste violence of Maharashtra, which erupted in Bhima-Koregaon of the state, spread on Thursday to neighbouring Madhya Pradesh where more than 10 buses and other vehicles were set ablaze during a bandh called by two Dalit organisations, police said.

The vandalism and arson was reported from Burhanpur district in the state where two organisations were taking out rallies during the bandh called to protest against the attacks on Dalits in Maharashtra. The police later arrested eight of the protesters.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rakesh Sagar told IANS that as some protesters were returning after submitting their memorandum to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), they saw some buses standing on the roadside.

They first vandalised the buses and some other vehicles and then set those on fire, Sagar said.

During the violence in Bhima-Koregaon near Pune, one Dalit youth was also killed when the activists of Hindu Ekta Mahasabha allegedly attacked a gathering.

On January 1 every year, Dalits and Bahujans assemble there to commemorate the anniversary of the Koregaon Battle of 1818, in which the British Bombay Native Infantry, comprising mostly Mahar Dalit soldiers, had defeated the Peshwa army.

--IANS

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