MUMBAI, Nov 30: At least three people were killed and dozens of others injured on Thursday as low-caste Hindus rioted in the western Indian state of Maharashtra over the vandalism of a statue of their leader, police said.

A mob representing a political faction of what are locally referred to as Dalits (oppressed) targeted buildings and vehicles to protest the alleged vandalism several days ago of a statue of their late leader, B. R. Ambedkar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

“We have arrested dozens of these rioters across the state,” Maharashtra police chief P. S. Pasricha said, confirming three deaths but not the cause.

He also said there was sporadic street violence on Thursday in Mumbai related to the incident.

Violence was also witnessed in several other towns in Maharashtra as protesters hurled stones and burned buses and other transport, police said.

Schools and shops closed as mobs spread in the Mumbai suburb of Thane, and police used steel-tipped batons and fired teargas to disperse them in the suburb as well as in the city, police said.

Curfews were in place in Thane and other towns following reports that the commuter rail system in Mumbai was also the target of attacks, but local police said order was restored by late Thursday.

Ambedkar, one of the key authors of India's constitution, fought for equal rights for the group during and after the freedom movement from British colonial rule, which ended in 1947.—AFP