A heavily armed group opened fire and hurled bombs at people gathered at a site where an event was being organised by the Dalit community, in Kanpur’s Saadh on Tuesday, police said. Two persons, who were said to have been injured in the attack, were admitted to a hospital in Kanpur.
The site where a Bodh Katha event was underway was vandalised and a statue of Sant Ravidas was allegedly desecrated.
Katha organisers said the programme was held in open defiance to diktats allegedly issued by upper caste men against holding the event earlier.
Locals alleged that police knew about the threat to the event days before it began, but did not even deploy police officials at the Katha site.
Joint commissioner of police (JCP) Anand Prakash Tiwari said an FIR had been registered against eight persons for violence at the site and three of them were in police custody. “Police are conducting raids to arrest all the accused named in the FIR. A heavy force of police personnel, including those from Provincial Armed Constabulary, has been deployed in the village,” he noted.
This story was originally published in hindustantimes.com. Read the full story here .