The Deccan Queen burns in Ulhasnagar, on Mumbai’s outskirts, on Thursday. (AP)

Mumbai, Nov. 30: The Deccan Queen Express stood on the tracks burning, the leaping flames and billowing fumes from its vacated coaches reflecting the rage of Dalit protesters who threw vast swathes of Maharashtra into chaos today.

Mobs prowling the towns and highways retaliated to the desecration of B.R. Ambedkar’s statue in Kanpur by attacking police, forcing shops shut and stoning and burning trains and buses, some in Mumbai.

Three persons were killed and at least 40 policemen and 20 protesters injured in clashes. It was the death of a 13-year-old boy in police firing at Osmanabad that triggered the torching of five bogies of the Deccan Queen.

Two commuter trains — the Karjat-CST in Ulhasnagar and the Ambernath-CST on Mumbai’s outskirts — were also set on fire. None was injured as the passengers had been ordered out. All long- distance trains travelling through Pune have been halted, railway officials said.

Nanded, Pimpri in Pune, Nandurbar and Osmanabad came under curfew but officials said they had no similar plans for Mumbai, where at least 91 BEST buses were damaged by stones, with four drivers and a woman passenger suffering injuries.

“After the incident in Kanpur, there was a reaction — mainly stone-throwing in parts of the state. We have requisitioned additional forces,” state police chief P.S. Pasricha said, adding that 1,500 preventive arrests have been made.

The police’s worst worry concerns December 6, Ambedkar’s death anniversary, when Dalits arrive in lakhs in Mumbai. The turnout could be bigger this time as it is the icon’s 50th death anniversary. With the day also happening to be the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, the police have asked the state government to declare it a holiday.

The government today promised Rs 1 lakh and a job for the family of Dalit youth Rangnath Shankar Dhale, who was beaten to death on Nashik Road during yesterday’s protests. His father has been assured free treatment.

Dhale, 23, was attacked by a mob that allegedly caught him throwing stones at vehicles. Three persons have been arrested in the case.

The violence spread to areas in Gujarat, with shops shut down and a bus stoned at Surat’s Pandesara.

Most of the protests are being led by factions of the Republican Party of India, the leading platform for Dalits in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra has been on the edge since a Dalit family of five was massacred in Khairlanji in September.