Statue of B.R. Ambedkar vandalised in Haridwar

Haridwar:  A statue of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar was found vandalised on Friday  by miscreants in a village of  Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, sparking tension, police said. Similar cases of vandalising statue of Dravidian icon EV Ramasamy or Periyar happened after a senior BJP leader’s inflammatory post on Facebook According to the reports the statue was destroyed at night in Kanhawaali village. Inspector Bhagwan Mehar and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kaustubh Mishra visited the spot to pacify protesters, mostly Dalits. Authorities said the statue of Ambedkar was damaged in the past too, adding that a dispute was on between two villagers over the land on which it had been installed. Police said the vandalism could be a result of this dispute. "We are trying to trace the miscreants," the official said.