Bharat Bandh: Dalit stir turns violent in UP, MP

A 'Bharat Bandh' called by some Dalit groups against a Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Act triggered violence in parts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday, police said. Protesters attacked shops, looted some of them and pelted stones at police in Hapur, Agra, Meerut and Saharanpur, reports said. Many cars were targeted and their window panes smashed. At some places, government property was also targeted. Some people reportedly fired at a police team in Meerut while a passenger bus was set on fire. Pro-reservation groups indulged in vandalism at the Muzaffarnagar railway station, stoning the Kocchi Express.