Ambedkar's statue vandalised in Azamgarh; 3 accused identified, no arrests yet

LUCKNOW: Three men have been identified on Saturday in connection with the statue defacing and vandalism in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh. "Three men have been identified, currently they are absconding, will be arrested soon," said DIG Vijay Bhushan.

Earlier in the day, the statue of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar was damaged with its head destroyed completely.

A statue of Dr BR Ambedkar was vandalised in Azamgarh, DIG Vijay Bhushan says " 3 men have been identified, currently they are absconding, will be arrested soon." pic.twitter.com/65PEFvxXmy — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 10, 2018

Several incidents of statue vandalism have been reported from various parts of the country over the last few days.

On Friday, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's statue was defaced in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur. The white statue was smeared with red colour.

Earlier, two statues of Vladimir Lenin was demolished in Tripura – one razed by mob at Sabroom Motor Stand in Agartala and another by a bulldozer at Belonia College Square in a Tripura town. 

Following the vandalism of the idols of Communist icon, a statue of Dravidian ideologue ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy was damaged in Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu. This was followed by defacing statues of Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee in Jadavpur University in West Bengal, Dr BR Ambedkar in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Mahatma Gandhi in Taliparamba in Kannur district of Kerala was defaced.

Miscreants also targeted Lord Hanuman's statue in Kharuav village in Uttar Pradesh's Balia. A poster was stuck on the idol. 

With spikes in incidents of statue vandalism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned all such incidents and spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh for strict action against the guilty.