Vehicles, govt building set ablaze as Satnami community protest turns violent

Several cars, motorcycles and a government building were torched after a protest called by the Satnami community to denounce damage to their religious pillar in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar city turned violent on Monday, officials said.

Several police personnel were injured in the stone pelting, an official said, adding Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai was briefed on the situation by the chief secretary and the DGP.

On the intervening night of May 15-16, unidentified persons vandalized a 'jaitkhamb', a structure worshipped by the Satnami community as a sacred symbol, near holy Amar Gufa in Giroudpuri dham in Balodabazar district. Some 5,000 protesters broke police barricades and pelted stones, leaving several personnel injured.