Ambedkar Nagar (UP), Nov 7 (IANS): A video showing UP policemen beating women with lathis and hurling abuses at them has sparked allegations of police excesses.

The police have denied the allegations and said that they had to use "minor force" after the women pelted stones at them and their vehicles.

Now viral on the social media, the video is from Jalalpur in Ambedkar Nagar district.

The police action was against women protesting over the vandalism of a statue of B.R. Ambedkar in the area recently. The protests set off a dispute over the land on which the statue stands.

A group of women was protesting at the spot on Sunday when the police arrived to disperse them.

According to the police, some of the protesters started pelting stones at the cops.

In another video, some women were seen attacking and pulling at the hair of female police personnel.

Ambedkar Nagar police officer Ajit Kumar Sinha said, "During the chaos, some protestors also attacked and vandalised a police car. The police then had to use minor force to bring the situation under control."