LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the murder of a Dalit man in Karchana area of Prayagraj is 'extremely sad and worrying'.
In an X post in Hindi, she demanded that the government must take strict action against such "criminal, anti-social and feudal elements running amok in the state and establish the rule of law".
She also wrote that government should take incidents of disrespect to the statue of Constitution maker Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar seriously and "take strict action against criminals who create tension and violence in the society so that recurrence of such incidents can be stopped."
The BSP chief was referring to two recent incidents, one involving the murder of a Dalit man in Itaura village and the second related to tension over removal of an Ambedkar statue in Mawai Khatri village.
The 30-year-old Dalit man was killed in Itaura village under Karchana police station limits on Saturday night, allegedly over some old enmity.
Yamuna Nagar DCP Vivek Chandra Yadav told PTI on Sunday that Devi Shankar was murdered allegedly by a man whose house he had gone to work at.
An attempt was made to burn his body, Yadav said, adding that an FIR has been registered in the case and a forensics team is collecting evidence.
In the second incident, tear gas shells were lobbed at a mob protesting against the removal of an Ambedkar statue erected in Mawai Khatri village, 36 kilometres away from the Lucknow Collectorate, on Saturday.
According to police, some people in the area had erected an Ambedkar statue on a Gram Sabha land in front of a primary school three days ago.
Installation of the statue on the land meant for village activities was scoffed at by another group in the area. On Saturday, when authorities arrived to remove the statue, hundreds of people gathered to stop them.
When the situation escalated, police arrived. The protestors allegedly resorted to stone-pelting, injuring six police personnel. In response, police shot tear gas shells to disperse the agitating crowd.