Kanpur, June 27 -- : Violence erupted in Etawah district on Thursday after the police registered a case against two Bhagavat kathavachaks (religious storytellers), accused of concealing their caste identity during a discourse at Dandarpur village. The FIR was filed on allegations of caste-based misconduct. It triggered widespread protests by members of the 'Ahir Regiment', a socio-cultural body, leading to road blockades, slogan-shouting and stone-pelting incidents.

Tensions had been simmering since the two kathavachaks were allegedly humiliated during a Bhagavat katha on June 21 at Dandarpur after it emerged that they were Yadavs. The two were reportedly made to perform acts of penance, including being tonsured and forced to rub their n...