Madhya Pradesh village tense as Ambedkar statues stolen from same spot twice in a day

MHOW: Tensions flared in Jaitpura village of MP's Dhar district on Wednesday evening after unidentified miscreants uprooted and stole a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar from the Indore-Ahmedabad four-lane road.The statue was reinstalled — and stolen again.The theft, twice over, sparked anger and outrage among locals and Bhim Army members.Naugaon SHO Sunil Sharma told TOI, "We received information around 6.30pm on Wednesday that the statue in Jaitpura was missing. Senior police officers went there and had another statue installed. At night, the second statue was stolen, too, after which Dhar SDM Roshni Patidar, CSP Ravindra Waskale, along with police from Naugaon and Dhar Kotwali, reached the site in the night."A case was filed against unidentified persons and police are scanning CCTV footage of the theft to track down the thieves.Two persons were seen in CCTV footage, but their faces are not clear, said Sharma. However, police have learnt that they took the statue in a bus. A large team is investigating the case, and the culprits will be nabbed soon, an officer said.Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the administration acted swiftly to reinstall another statue of Ambedkar, SHO Sharma said, warning that strict action will be taken against those trying to disturb law and order.Members of a social organisation held a protest at Naugaon police station. Local tribal leader Jagdish Dawar, 37, expressed deep anguish, saying, "We installed the statue of Babasaheb on the highway, but someone desecrated it and took it away. This has deeply hurt the sentiments of our community, and we will stage strong protests if police fail to recover the statue and nab the culprits."