Medininagar, Apr 15 (PTI) A bust of B R Ambedkar which was installed in Jharkhand’s Palamu district on his birth anniversary was stolen by miscreants after which local people put up road blockade on Tuesday to protest the theft, police said.

The bust of Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution was installed in Kharadpar village on Monday. This morning the bust was found missing.

To protest the theft of the bust of Ambedkar local people blocked traffic movement between Japla-Chatarpur road for over eight hours on Tuesday, the police said.

Officer-in-Charge of Hussainabad police station Sonu Kumar Choudhary along with other district officials visited the spot and pursued the protestors to withdraw the blockade as a massive search operation was on to trace the missing bust.

A police officer said there was a dispute between two groups at the time of the installation of the bust over the nature of the land where it was erected.

Circle Officer Pankaj Kumar has been directed to verify the nature of the land where the bust was erected, an official said.

Bahujan Samaj Party leaders Ajay Bharti and Mandeep Ram demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits and the bust be reinstalled at the same spot. PTI COR BS RG