india

Updated: Feb 09, 2020 18:41 IST

A life-size statue of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was damaged by unidentified persons in Hazaribag, around 90 kilometer from capital Ranchi, police said on Sunday.

The statue, set up at Kumhar Toli under ward-24 of Hazaribag city, was found broken with its right hand, holding a stick, completely detached from the frame. A police team is probing the incident.

Hazaribag’s Katkamdag police station in-charge Gautam Kumar said, “We visited the place on Sunday and began our investigation. Prima facie, it seems the statue was damaged by unsocial elements. However, anything concrete can only be said after the investigation gets completed.”

This is the second incident in the last 15 years of the Mahatma’s statue getting damaged here. Irate local residents demanded the immediate arrest of the persons involved in the act.

President of Mahatma Gandhi Smarak Vikash Nyas (MGSVN) president Manoj Verma said the incident took place on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, but they learned about it only on Saturday evening.

“We informed the Sadar police station on Saturday evening. But the police visited the place on Sunday,” Verma said.

He said lock of one of the three gates leading to the statue was found broken.

“First two gates are locked, while the lock of the third gate was broken,” he said.

A platform in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi was made on February 2, 1948, at Kumhar Toli and Gandhi Smarak (memorial) was established. Gandhi’s urn was brought here from Delhi later and since then, Gandhi birth and death anniversary are observed here every year.

Verma said they started erecting a statue on the platform in 2005, which was opposed by some people, who damaged the statue then.

“With the help of the local administration, the statue was resurrected,” added Verma.

He alleged that land mafias were trying to grab the land. Hands of land mafias in damaging the statue cannot be ignored, he said.

Verma said some unidentified persons had earmarked 27 decimals of land for limestone dust. “This indicates that land mafias are trying to grab this land,” he said.