> Dalit protests intensify in Maharashtra, three killed

Three persons were killed and over 60 injured on Thursday during protests across
Maharashtra following the alleged desecration of B R Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur, DGP P S Pasricha said.

Five coaches of the Deccan Queen train were burnt and over 90 buses damaged in various parts of this city during violent protests.

"Five coaches of the Pune-Mumbai Deccan Queen were burnt by protestors at Ulhasnagar during a rail roko this afternoon," a Central Railway spokesperson said. No one was injured in the incident, he said.

According to reports, the protestors asked people to get out of the train before setting the coaches on fire.

Incidents of stone pelting were reported from Trombay, Chembur, Kurla, Bhandup, Mulund and Navghar in northeast Mumbai. There were also stone pelting incidents at Kherwadi, Kurar, Bandra's Pali Hill and Goregaon in northwest Mumbai, police said.

Buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were being targeted specifically by protestors, who were pelting stones during rasta rokos, police said.

A BEST spokesman said that 91 of its buses had been damaged in stone pelting. "Four drivers and a woman passenger were injured due to the incidents across the city," he said.

BEST's entire fleet is on the roads but some routes are being diverted as precaution, he said.

Protestors from dalit groups organised rail rokos at Bhandup and Airoli stations on the Central Railway line in the morning, affecting services briefly, a spokesperson said.

Several parts of Maharashtra have witnessed violent protests by Dalit organisations after a statue of Ambedkar was allegedly vandalised at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh