Close on the heels of 50 Dalit families deciding to shun Hinduism in Moradabad, about 180 Dalit families in Saharanpur district have threatened to embrace Buddhism in protest against harassment by members of caste Hindus, and the police.

Fed up with a series of caste clashes last month, Dalits families from Kapoorpur, Ighari and Roopari villages assembled at Maankmau Ghat in Saharanpur on Thursday. They immersed statues, calendars, and photographs of Hindu deities into the local river and took a vow to embrace Buddhism if atrocities perpetuated by Thakurs and police did not stop.

Majority of them were members of the Bheem Army, which shot into news last month when its members took caste Hindus head on when the latter tried to take out a procession of Maharana Pratap. During clashes, a Thakur sustained gun-shot injuries and later died.

Agitated, the influential Thakurs attacked Shabbirpur village and burnt houses of 25 Dalit families. Since then Saharanpur witnessed as many as half a dozen sectarian clashes between the caste Hindus and the Dalits.

Later, on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath the police had launched a crackdown against Bheem Army and arrested its founder Chandrasekhar Azad and many other members on charges of indulging in violence.

Villagers alleged that only Dalits faced the ire of the police and no action was taken against Thakurs who burnt their houses.

"Many Dalits and members of Bheem Army have been sent behind bars without any reason... all at the behest of the Chief Minister," alleged Ankit Gautam, a leader of Bheem Army.

"We are no longer safe. We will embrace Buddhism if Bheem Army leaders and members are not released unconditionally and atrocities against Dalits stopped," threatened Gautam of Bheem Army.

Significantly, Dalits in Moradabad have supported their counterparts in Saharanpur. Talking to DNA, the district president of the All-India Valmiki Samaj Lalla Babu Draavid said they would also follow the suit. "We are holding our national convention in Ludhiana, Punjab on May 28 to discuss the conversion issue. We would prefer embracing Islam," claimed Lalla Babu Dravid.