Two persons were arrested for allegedly burning a poster of BR Ambedkar at a village in Haryana's Hisar district on Independence Day, 15 August, police officials confirmed to The Quint.
The incident took place at around 1 pm at the Budha Khera village in Hisar, where the accused placed the poster of Ambedkar on cow dung and light it on fire.
After this, the two accused; Surendar (29) and Bijender (29), uploaded the video on social media, police said.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Ukhlana police station under Section 295-A (Deliberate, Malicious acts to outrage religious feelings), 153 (Promoting enmity between different groups), 34 (Common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3 of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
'Spoilt The Brotherhood Of The Village'
According to the FIR accessed by The Quint, the complaint was filed by Siyaram, a member of the Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Society, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Ukhlana.
"On Independence Day, the video of burning a picture of Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar by some miscreants in Budha Kheda village has gone viral... These people have spoiled the brotherhood and atmosphere for the village," the FIR stated.
A police official from the Ukhlana station told The Quint that the case was registered at 7.30 pm on Tuesday, 15 August, after Siyaram, along with Satbir, President of the Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Society approached the station and showed them the video of the incident.
"They (complainants) approached us with the names of the accused since they are from the village and were familiar with each other. After this, we picked the two accused from their house in Budha Khera village," he said.
Gaurav Sharma, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Barwala, told The Quint, "After investigation, we found that the main accused (Surender) had objections with certain rules laid down in the Indian Constitution. That is why he burnt the poster of Ambedkar on Independence Day".
Despite several attempts, The Quint was unable to reach Siyaram, the complainant in the case.
"We were shocked to see the video. What they have done is completely wrong. How can they just burn Ambedkar's photo? There is no respect for the person who wrote our constitution. They are all idiots and need to be punished for their acts," Satbir said.
"This is the first time an incident like this is taking place. It's a small village of 2,000-3,000 people who live in peace and harmony," DySP Sharma added.
The accused are likely to be produced in a court in Hisar on Wednesday, 16 August.
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