NASHIK, July 20: The leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Madhukar Pichad, has demanded a judicial probe into the sacrilege of a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar on Friday last, triggering off a lathi-charge on Dalits and stoning of a mosque on the Id day.Talking to reporters after visiting Bhimwadi, the Dalit slum where the statue of Dr Ambedkar was vandalised, Pichad said the incident on the Id day and the stoning of a mosque and the Muslim locality surrounding it indicated that certain groups of people did so with the intention of starting a communal riot.He demanded a judicial probe into the incident, which could have led to a communal flare up. He said that he would move an adjournment motion in the Legislative Assembly on Monday on the issue. He pointed out that the area which was a stone's throw away from the Bhadrakali police station could have been better controlled by the police had they been more vigilant.Pichad said that during the Nashik bandh following the Ghatkopar firing incident, some police officials assaulted innocent Dalits in various Dalit pockets and filed false cases against them.Pichad said that after the ransacking of his house in Mumbai, he had received letters and calls threatening him with dire consequences if he continued his campaign against the State Government. He said that the Manohar Joshi Government should resign over the Ghatkopar incident.Meanwhile, State Housing Minister and the Guardian Minister of Nashik, Sureshdada Jain and Health Minister, Dr Daulatrao Aher visited Bhimwadi as well as the Helbawdi mosque and appealed to the people to maintain peace. He also addressed a peace committee meeting on Saturday before touring the riot-hit areas.Later talking to newsmen Jain informed that the State Government was seriously thinking of setting up a permanent policy on desecration of statues of national leaders and disturbance of social peace. The decision on the matter would be declared soon, he said.Jain said that it was unfortunate that such an incident was to take place in a holy city like Nashik.
