Over 11 years after the riot following the desecration of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar in Ghatkopar that led to death of 10 Dalits in police firing, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is scheduled to inaugurate a statue of Dr Ambedkar in the locality in a bid to woo Dalit votes in the run-up to the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

Congress MP Gurudas Kamat, Social Justice Minister and Guardian Minister for Mumbai’s suburbs Chandrakant Handore, Minister of State for Housing Pritamkumar Shegaonkar and Slum Board chairman Veluswami Naidu will also attend the function to be held at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar on Monday evening.

Interestingly, those responsible for the desecration have not been brought to book so far. On the other hand, the case is still pending in court, in which State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) PSI Manohar Kadam who had ordered the firing is being tried.

It was in 1997 that the Dalits who were protesting against the desecration of an Ambedkar bust at the slum — located off the Eastern Express Highway — were killed in the police firing. The Justice S D Gundewar Commission, set up to probe the incident, had indicted the police for the firing. The Dalit groups had demanded that Kadam should be booked for murder.

Former Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R R Patil had admitted that the culprits responsible for the desecration were yet to be nabbed besides hinting at a fresh probe.