Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday targeted the BJP and RSS over the violence in Maharashtra claiming that it seemed "casteist forces" were behind the clashes while also blaming the state government for not making adequate arrangements to prevent them.
"The incident which occurred could have been prevented. The government should have made adequate security arrangements. There is BJP government in the state, they let violence take place. It seems casteist forces like the BJP and RSS are behind the violence," Mayawati said.
Several towns and cities in Maharashtra were on the edge today as Dalit protests against yesterday's violence in Pune spilled over to Mumbai, with agitators damaging scores of buses, and disrupting road and rail traffic, officials said.
Clashes between Dalit groups and supporters of right-wing Hindu organisations during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune district had left a man dead yesterday.
In Pune, cases were registered by the Pimpri police against Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, who head the Hindu Ekta Aghadi and Shivraj Pratishthan respectively, for allegedly inciting the violence. The two organisations had opposed the celebration of "British victory" in the battle.
Over 160 buses were damaged in Mumbai by rampaging protesters over 100 of whom were detained, police said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court into the Pune violence, and appealed for calm. He said it needed to be ascertained if there was a conspiracy behind yesterday's violence.
Fadnavis said a Rs 10 lakh compensation would be given to kin of the youth killed and his death would be probed by the CID.
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