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Dalit, 19, shot in clash over Bihar Ambedkar statue, 3 held

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PATNA: A 19-year-old

Dalit

youth was fatally shot and another suffered critical wounds following a violent

clash

between two groups of people over installation of a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar at Maqsoodpur village under Patlapur Panchayat in

Patna

late Wednesday night. Three men were arrested Thursday for allegedly firing indiscriminately, resulting in Vikram Kumar’s death, said Patna (West) SP Abhinav Dhiman.
The village has been tense since April 14 when one of the groups proposed installing an

Ambedkar statue

on a piece of govt land near a school after the celebration of his birth anniversary.

Members of another group opposed the move, said Shahpur police station SHO Manish Kumar.
After a lull of three days, the situation turned hostile when the opposing group learned that the plinth for the statue had been built. Police reached the village around 7.30pm Wednesday and pacified both groups.
However, violence broke out around 10pm, with both groups engaging in arson and attacking each other with stones.

Indiscriminate firing followed and a bullet hit Vikram’s face. Uday Kumar (24) suffered a head wound from a stone.
The city SP said police recovered two bullet shells from the spot. “The village houses 100 families of one group and 22 of another,” he said, while disclosing that police guards have been posted in the area.
Dhiman said police admitted both to the sub-divisional hospital in Danapur where Vikram was declared brought dead by the doctors while Uday was referred to Patna Medical College Hospital. Vikram’s body has been handed over to the family after postmortem.

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