Varanasi: Angered over tearing of a flag and poster on the entrance gate of Nehia village under Cholapur police station, scores of villagers blocked the road and staged a massive protest on Thursday morning. Heavy police force was deployed to pacify the situation.Camping at the site to monitor the situation, ADCP (Varuna) Lipi Nagayach said initially one group came on the road to protest after noticing that flags and posters put up on the occasion of Dr B R Ambedkar birth anniversary on Apr 14 had been torn and removed. Following police intervention and assurance of appropriate action following investigation and identifying persons involved in the act through CCTV, she said.But, after Ambedkar supporters from slums of Nehia went back, another group installed flags bearing image of trident. News spread like wildfire and Ambedkar supporters came on the road again. It sparked tension as both groups came face to face. Senior police officials, including ADCP and ACP (Sarnath) Vidush Saxena, returned to the spot.Following these developments, the ADCP said, both groups of villagers were counselled and they agreed to maintain peace and order at the spot. Heavy police force remained deployed at the village in view of tension gripping the area, while quick reaction team was also present. The ADCP said CCTV footage was being examined apart from collection of other evidence to initiate appropriate action in the episode.Main gate at the entrance of Nehia village bears the name of Baba Batuk Bhairavnath temple. During Ambedkar Jayanti celebration, people from slums had installed their flag and poster on the gate. On Thursday morning people from local slum noticed that the flag and posters had been torn and removed came and they blocked the road in protest. Initially, police tried to pacify the situation by ensuring flag put up by Ambedkar supporters was reinstated, but after protests from a Hindu organisation, the flag was removed again, fueling anger of Ambedkar supporters.
