Bhima Koregaon violence: Protests spread to Madhya Pradesh, 12 buses vandalised in Burhanpur
In Gujarat, protestors blocked the Madhuram bypass road in Junagadh city.
Twelve buses were vandalised at a bus stand in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur city on Thursday during protests against the violence in Bhima Koregaon area of Maharashtra on Monday, ANI reported. The driver of one of the buses was injured and has been admitted to a district hospital.
Local daily Patrika reported that protests began in the Lalbagh area of Burhanpur from 9 am on Thursday. Additional Superintendent of Police (Burhanpur) Rakesh Sagar told the daily that some people stopped a bus travelling from Khandwa town to Burhanpur. After this, demonstrators reached the Pushpak bus stand and began pelting stones at the vehicles there.
Police officials said they had launched an investigation to find the people responsible for the violence.
The market area in Lalbagh remained closed, and no buses were plying from the city to Maharashtra, Patrika reported.
Protests in Gujarat
In Gujarat, protestors blocked the Madhuram bypass road in Junagadh city, ANI reported. They also blacked the Rajkot-Somnath National Highway. Administrative officials shifted buses stationed at depots in the district to a division workshop in order to prevent damage.
On Wednesday evening, a Dalit group staged a protest in the Udhna locality in Surat city, PTI reported. Dalit community members gathered under the banner of the Samast Ambedkar Samaj and took out a rally. They staged a dharna in front of a stationary train at Udhna Railway Station and blocked a road, obstructing traffic.
Students agitate in Mumbai
The Mumbai Police on Thursday denied permission to Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani and Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid to speak at an event in the city. The two youth leaders were invited to speak at a summit organised by student organisation Chhatra Bharati.
The organisers claimed that the speeches had been planned before the clashes started in Maharashtra on January 2. The Chhatra Bharati group began protesting outside the Juhu police station on Thursday afternoon, after the police detained some of its members.