Gautam Buddha Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 29 (ANI): Police lodged an FIR against unidentified people for painting black a plaque installed below the statue of King Mihir Bhoj at a college in Greater Noida on Tuesday.

Noida Sep 28 PTI Tension prevailed in Greater Noida on Tuesday after a plaque having the name of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and fixed below a statue of King Mihir Bhoj unveiled last week was smeared with black paint The plaque that was smeared also had the names of Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar and Dadri MLA Tejpal Nagar both from the BJP and the Gurjar community a video clip purportedly of the smeared plaque showed Police have lodged an FIR and launched an investigation into the act which was allegedly committed by some members of the Gurjar community which has been at loggerhead with Rajputs with both claiming that the ninth-century king belonged to their caste officials said The miscreants including a Samajwadi Party worker from the Gurjar community were angry with the MP and the MLA for allegedly not supporting their community The chief minister had unveiled the 15-foot-tall statue of the king at the Mihir Bhoj Inter College in the Dadri area of the Gautam Buddh Nagar district on September 22 A conflict had ensued over the prefix Gurjar to the name of King Mihir Bhoj on the plaque with some Rajput community members opposing the move Prior to the event also tension had been brewing in the region due to the conflict between the two dominant communities over the issue After unveiling the statue CM Adityanath had observed that great icons cannot be confined to one caste they belong to everyone The smearing of the plaque allegedly took place after Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar visited the statue and paid tributes to King Mihir Bhoj on Tuesday morning Satyamev Jayate Nagar a Gurjar leader captioned a picture of him standing next to the statue in a Twitter post in the morning Deputy Commissioner of Police Greater Noida Abhishek told PTI in the evening that the situation was normal in the region and an FIR has been lodged at the Dadri police station over the matter Additional DCP Vishal Pandey said the FIR was lodged under relevant sections on the basis of a complaint given by the secretary of the Gurjar Vidya Sabha The police have taken cognisance of a video circulating on social media and are using it to ascertain the identity of the miscreants involved in the episode he said adding strict action will be taken against the guilty persons One of the accused persons purportedly seen in the visuals has been identified by the police as Shyam Singh Bhati of the Gurjar community He is also a local worker of the Samajwadi Party PTI tried to contact him but his phone was switched off Reacting to the developments Samajwadi Partys local unit however claimed that Bhatis act was not supported by the party It also alleged that the BJP was trying to pull off a political stunt by stoking this caste controversy ahead of the UP assembly polls The BJPs local unit trashed the allegation and put the blame on the SP The Samajwadi Party leadership has already asked its workers and supporters in the region to stay away from the issue which looks like a political stunt ahead of the assembly elections general secretary and spokesperson Raghvendra Dubey of the SPs Noida unit told PTI The BJP is triggering this caste row to gain political mileage out of it How else do you explain the abrupt developments when both the communities Gurjars and Rajputs have always been peaceful and united followers of Samrat Mihir Bhoj Dubey alleged BJPs local spokesperson Tanmay Shankar said One of the miscreants seen in the video belongs to the opposition party which has no issue to rake ahead of the elections Hence it was engaging in such tactics He added that the SP had no real achievements from the tenure of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav which is why these political stunts are being staged now by the opposition PTI KIS RAX RAX

Noida Sep 28 PTI Tension prevailed in Greater Noida on Tuesday after the name of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was allegedly smeared with black paint on a plaque fixed below a statue of King Mihir Bhoj that he had unveiled last weekBesides Adityanath the names of Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar and Dadri MLA Tejpal Nagar both from the BJP were also smeared with black paint on the plaque according to purported visuals that surfaced on social mediaPolice have launched an investigation into the act which has been allegedly committed by some members of the Gurjar community who have been at loggerhead with the Rajput community with both claiming that the ninth-century king belonged to their caste officials saidThe chief minister had unveiled the 15-foot-tall statue of the king in Greater Noidas Dadri area in Gautam Buddh Nagar district on September 22 A conflict had ensued over addition of prefix Gurjar to the name of King Mihir Bhoj on the plaquePrior to the event also tension had been brewing in the region due to the conflict between the two dominant Rajput and Gurjar communities over the issue while CM Adityanath had remarked that great icons cannot be confined to one caste they belong to everyone after unveiling the statueThe smearing of black paint over the names on the plaque allegedly took place after Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar visited the statue and paid tributes to King Mihir Bhoj on Tuesday morningSatyamev Jayate Nagar a Gurjar leader captioned a picture of him standing next to the statue in a Twitter post in the morningMeanwhile an official said the local Dadri police have been instructed to lodge an FIR into Tuesdays incident and take action against the culprits PTI KIS DV DV

Lucknow Sep 26 PTI Samajwadi Party SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the BJP of changing the caste of ninth-century ruler Mihir Bhoj and tampering with historical facts to secure the votes of a certain community This comes days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a 15-foot statue of the ruler in Gautam Buddh Nagars Dadri stoking a controversy that saw sections of Gurjar and Rajput communities stake claim over the kings legacy It is taught in history that King Mihir Bhoj was a Gurjar-Pratihar But the BJP people have changed his caste Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi This is condemnable The BJP is deliberately trying to tamper with historical facts and divide society to secure the votes of a particular side he said The SP chief added that his party stood for respect and honour for all sections of the society Around 250 to 300 participants of a Gurjar panchayat in Dadri were briefly detained by the police on Sunday Joint Commissioner of Police Love Kumar told PTI They were briefly detained in view of the situation and taken in buses from the panchayat spot in Dadri to the Police Lines where they were released Kumar said He said heavy security has been deployed in the area and the police were monitoring the situation closely while adding that the situation was currently under control Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC had already been imposed in the district and permission for the gathering which had hundreds of participants was not given by the local police according to officials Meanwhile BSP chief Mayawati tweeted about the unveiling of the statue later on Sunday In a series of tweets in Hindi she said The statue of Gurjar king Mihir Bhoj which was installed by the UP government recently and unveiled by the Chief Minister on September 22 has the word Gurjar missing from it This has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Gurjar community and they are feeling very hurt she added Tampering with the history of the Gurjar community is extremely condemnable and the government should apologise for this The BSP demands that the word Gurjar should be immediately added the former chief minister said After unveiling the statue on September 22 Adityanath had said No foreign ruler was able to intrude India during the rule of King Mihir Bhoj They were so frightened of him that nobody dared to attack India even 150 years after his rule until Mehmud Ghaznavi invaded and plundered the country A community that forgets its past and traditions is unable to protect its geography also and something like this has happened with us as well he had said then Soon after a controversy erupted between sections of Gurjar and Rajput communities in Dadri over the kings legacy Later a video surfaced purportedly showing a local community leader tampering with the foundation stone plaque of the statue and changing the prefix in the kings name Noting the rift between the two communities Adityanath advised them against confining great icons within the boundaries of caste saying their sacrifices were for the whole of India to cherish Maa Panna Dai had taken Maharana to a safe place by sacrificing the life of her son Not just the Gurjar community but the entire India should feel proud of her great sacrifice he tweeted PTI NAV HDA

Lucknow Sep 26 PTI Samajwadi Party SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the BJP of changing the caste of ninth-century ruler Mihir Bhoj and tampering with historical facts to secure the votes of a certain communityThis comes days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a 15-foot statue of the ruler in Gautam Buddh Nagars Dadri stoking a controversy that saw sections of Gurjar and Rajput communities stake claim over the kings legacyIt is taught in history that King Mihir Bhoj was a Gurjar-Pratihar But the BJP people have changed his caste Yadav said in a tweet in HindiThis is condemnable The BJP is deliberately trying to tamper with historical facts and divide society to secure the votes of a particular side he saidThe SP chief added that his party stood for respect and honour for all sections of the societyAfter unveiling the statue on September 22 Adityanath had said No foreign ruler was able to intrude India during the rule of King Mihir Bhoj They were so frightened of him that nobody dared to attack India even 150 years after his rule until Mehmud Ghaznavi invaded and plundered the country A community that forgets its past and traditions is unable to protect its geography also and something like this has happened with us as well he said thenSoon after a controversy erupted between sections of Gurjar and Rajput communities in Dadri over the kings legacyLater a video surfaced purportedly showing a local community leader tampering with the foundation stone plaque of the statue and changing the prefix in the kings nameNoting the rift between the two communities Adityanath advised them against confining great icons within the boundaries of caste saying their sacrifices were for the whole of India to cherishMaa Panna Dai had taken Maharana to a safe place by sacrificing the life of her son Not just the Gurjar community but entire India should feel proud of her great sacrifice he tweeted PTI NAV VN IJT