Groups clash after Sardar Patel's statue is pulled down in Ujjain; two officers suspended

Ujjain: Members of two communities clashed and pelted stones at each other after a statue of former deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was pulled down by unidentified persons belonging to Bhim Army in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain district on Thursday morning, officials said.

No injuries were reported in the clash.

Policy personnel were deployed in large numbers in the Makdone area, located about 50km from the district headquarters, where the incident took place, while two senior officers were suspended for alleged negligence, they said.

In a video of the incident which went viral on social media, a group of people allegedly belonging to Bhim Army was seen pulling down the statue with a tractor.

They wanted that a statue of social reformer and Constitution's chief architect Dr B R Ambedkar be installed at the site, instead of Patel's, police sources said.

The statue of Patel was installed at a site close to the Makdone bus stand late Wednesday night, they said.

However, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Nitesh Bhargav told PTI over phone that they were still trying to find out when the statue was installed.

An investigation was underway in the entire episode after which cases would be registered, he said, adding no one was injured.

"Additional police force has been deployed and the situation was completely under control in the area. We have removed the stones that were hurled by (members of) the two communities from the spot in Makdone," Bhargav said.

Meanwhile, taking the incident seriously, divisional commissioner Sanjay Goyal suspended in-charge chief municipal officer (CMO) Sanjay Malviya, while Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Sharma suspended Makdone police station in-charge Bhim Singh Devda on charges of negligence.