A mob tried to storm the residence of Madhya Pradesh minister Lal Singh Arya in Bhind district today, police said, a day after violence erupted in the state during a nationwide bandh called by Dalit outfits to protest the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.
The death toll in yesterday's violence rose to eight in the state with two more persons succumbing to their injuries today.
Arya, a Dalit, was not home when the incident took place. The police blamed anti-social elements over the incident. However, the BJP minister accused the Opposition Congress of attempting to attack his house.
"We thwarted a bid by some anti-social elements to enter the residence of Arya in the district's Gohad area," Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare told PTI.
"We chased them away at the right time," he added.
The SP declined to comment when asked whether the mob was armed.
"I was not in Gohad, where prohibitory orders are in place. I am in Bhopal," Arya said.
"I have come to know that some Congressmen were behind the incident," Arya, who is the "Happiness Minister" of the state, claimed.
Meanwhile, Khare said no arrest was made in connection with yesterday's violence that left four people dead in Bhind district, around 500 km from state capital Bhopal.
"Right now, our priority is maintaining law-and-order," the SP added.
More than 60 injured people are being treated in Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts. The bandh-related violence has left eight people dead till now -- four in Bhind, three in Gwalior and one in Morena district, officials said.
A press release issued from the police headquarters in Bhopal said 99 people and 54 policemen were injured during the bandh, which was marred by firing, stone-pelting and arson.
The curfew imposed yesterday was in force in the urban areas of Bhind and Morena, besides the Thatipur, Murar, Gola Ka Mandir localities of Gwalior city. The curfew was lifted from Maharajpur in Gwalior today, the release said.
Internet services remained suspended in Gwalior, Bhind, Morena and Sagar districts, officials said.
"We have arrested 53 people so far in connection with the violence," Morena SP Aditya Pratap Singh said.
Meanwhile, the police today admitted that one person, who died yesterday, had fallen victim to police bullets.
Two policemen were booked in connection with the death in police firing, an official said.
Yesterday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties had occurred during clashes between the supporters and opponents of the "Bharat bandh", and not due to police firing.
However, Khare said one of the protesters, Mahavir Rajawat (40), was killed in police firing.
Two more deaths were reported today, taking the toll to eight. Seven of the victims died of bullet wounds, officials said.
One Pradeep Jatav succumbed to bullet injuries, sustained during clashes between the bandh supporters and opponents, late last night in Bhind district, Collector Ilayaraja T told PTI over phone.
Besides, the body of a man, identified as Jasrath alias Darshan Singh, was found from an agricultural field in the Machhand area of Bhind this morning, he said.
"I spoke to the doctor at the hospital, where his post-mortem will be conducted. The doctor told me that Singh possibly died due to an axe injury on his head," the collector said.
Khare said two policemen, Hawaldar Ramkumar Dohre and Constable Sultan Rathore, who were deployed at the Machhand police station yesterday, were booked under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) in connection with Rajawat's death.
Police bullets were found in Rajawat's body during the preliminary post-mortem, he added.
A probe was on to ascertain the circumstances under which the police had fired at Rajawat, the SP said.
Of the eight deceased, six were Dalits and two upper-caste Hindus, police officials said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Ajay Singh of the Congress demanded the imposition of President's rule in the BJP-governed state in the wake of the large-scale violence.
MP Congress chief Arun Yadav alleged that the state government was entirely responsible for the violence. "It did not take any preventive measures to avert the violence," he said.
Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts witnessed massive violence during yesterday's bandh, organised by Dalit groups to protest a recent Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.
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