Chandigarh, Apr 3 (PTI) Police arrested six people for allegedly damaging a statue of B R Ambedkar in Batala on Thursday, a day after an officer dismissed any claims of vandalism.

A finger of the Ambedkar's statue in Gurdaspur's Batala town was found damaged on Wednesday, triggering protests by several Dalit outfits.

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Addressing the media on Thursday in Batala, Deputy Inspector General (Border Range) Satinder Singh said seven people, who came in two cars, damaged the statue on the intervening night of March 31 and April 1.

Following an investigation, police arrested six of them and seized two vehicles, the DIG said. Raids to nab the seventh are on, he added.

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The DIG said the accused were under questioning for their motives behind the act and if they did it at someone's behest.

On Wednesday, Batala Senior Superintendent of Police Suhail Qasim Mir claimed that the "first-hand observation" found there was no vandalism involving the statue.

The damage to the index finger of the statue was old, caused naturally, he had said.

Mir also said that the chairman of the Improvement Trust had visited the site on Tuesday for the statue's renovation.

The alleged damage is the second such incident in three days to have taken place in Punjab.

On March 30, a protective glass encasing another statue of Ambedkar in Jalandhar's Phillaur was defaced with a pro-Khalistan slogan.

Pro-Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) claimed responsibility for the act and threatened to remove all Ambedkar's statues from the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)