Violent protests took place for the second day in central Maharashtra’s Parbhani city on Wednesday over the vandalising of a replica of the Indian Constitution, police said.
Amid the bandh called by Ambedkarite activists, a mob indulged in arson and the district collector’s office was vandalised, officials said.
A glass-encased replica of the Constitution outside Parbhani railway station, close to a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar, was found to have been damaged on Tuesday, sparking protests.
Police arrested a man in connection with the incident, but protests resumed on Wednesday morning.
“Pipes outside a shop were set ablaze around 1 pm today. As the mob became violent, police fired tear gas shells and dispersed them,” said acting Superintendent of Police Yeshwant Kale.
The protesters were demanding that police should find who was behind Tuesday’s incident of vandalising, he told PTI.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the collector’s office in the afternoon, and some of them rushed inside and damaged furniture and window panes before police brought the situation under control, officials said.
Senior officials including the Special Inspector General of Police of the range visited the spot.
Bandh was also observed in Vasmat area of the district, local officials said.
Protesters had blocked the railway tracks at Parbhani station on Tuesday evening and roughed up the loco-pilot of the Nandigram Express.
