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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured Communist Party of India – Marxist’s (CPI-M) Brinda Karat that he would personally intervene in the Bhandara killings. Four members of a Dalit family were brutally murdered by the upper caste members at Khairlanji village in Bhandara district of Maharashtra. Meanwhile, protests continued against the killings, which were centered around Bhandara, Nagpur and Amravati spread to other parts of the State. Members of the Republican Party took out processions in Solapur, throwing stones at buses. Besides, there was also a new twist in the Maharashtra Government's struggle to cope with the uproar after the Kherlangi massacre. Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil, who was in Amravati, was asked whether he would consider arming Dalits, who face the threat of violence from upper castes. "To prevent incidents like the one in Kherlanji where they were only 15 Dalits living, if the Dalits are insecure or in a minority, we will consider this," said Patil. The rather bizarre answer to the question was the sign of a government struggling for damage control. Dalit groups also claimed that they were being victimised by the police. They alleged that after Patil's visit to Vidharbha earlier, the police claimed that protests, which followed the Kherlanji killings were engineered by Naxal groups. On 15 November 2006, he went to a hospital in Amravati where protestors and policemen had been admitted. Dinesh Vankhede (16) who was injured in the police firing was in critical condition. "We can't say anything yet. His condition is critical; he needs surgery but his condition needs to be stabilized first," said hospital sources.
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