Phagwara clash: Critically injured Dalit youth dies

Phagwara: A youth, who was critically injured in a recent clash in Phagwara between members of Dalit outfits and Hindu right-wing groups on the issue of renaming an NH1 traffic intersection, succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Ludhiana, police said.

Yashwant alias Bobby (19), a Dalit activist, who was critically injured in the clash, in which three others were also injured, succumbed to injuries yesterday night at DMC Hospital in Ludhiana.

His body reached Phagwara in the morning after postmortem by doctors under tight police security.

Though tension had gripped the town, the cremation passed off peacefully, officials said. Tanish, Bobby's younger brother, lit the funeral pyre.

Punjab Police, besides personnel of the Rapid Action Force, Anti-Riots squads and women police and BSF, have been deployed in all sensitive areas in the town. On April 13, clashes erupted in Phagwara between members of Dalit outfits and Hindu right-wing groups after Dalit members allegedly put up a board with a picture of B R Ambedkar at Gol Chowk.