A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by unidentified miscreants in Punjab’s Bathinda, police said on Saturday. The police added the incident happened on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
Gandhi’s statue was situated at a public park in Ramman Mandi. After vandalising the statue, the unidentified miscreants took away its face.
A case has been registered at Ramman Mandi Police Station, with Station House Officer (Sadar) Harjot Singh Mann adding that the matter is being investigated.
The police have assured that the miscreants will be nabbed soon, adding the CCTV footage of the area was being examined.
Locals have strongly condemned the vandalism and Ashok Kumar Singla, president of the District Urban Congress, demanded the immediate arrest of those behind the crime.
This incident in Bhatinda comes just days after a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was desecrated in Canada’s Ontario province. The statue was vandalised at Vishnu Mandir in the area of Yonge Street and Garden Avenue, according to reports.
The local police described the vandalism as hate and a “bias-motivated incident.”
Taking to Twitter, the Indian Consulate General in Toronto said, “We are distressed at the desecration of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vishnu temple in Richmond Hill. This criminal, hateful act of vandalism has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada. We are in contact with Canadian authorities to investigate this hate crime.”