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Vandalism of statue: Police analyse cellphone of accused, summon his acquaintances for probe

The vandalism of life size statute of Dr BR Ambedkar at Heritage Street on January 26 that raised a political uproar and triggered protests in the state, is being probed threadbare to find any conspiracy angle to it. The police...
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Akash Singh arrested for vandalizing the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in Heritage street in Amritsar. File photo
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The vandalism of life size statute of Dr BR Ambedkar at Heritage Street on January 26 that raised a political uproar and triggered protests in the state, is being probed threadbare to find any conspiracy angle to it.

The police have forensically examined mobile phone of accused Akash Singh’s and summoned his acquaintances for investigation. They were shortlisted after analysing his cellphone seized during his arrest near the spot on January 26.

Akash climbed up a ladder and hammered the life size statue of Dr BR Ambedkar on the day when the entire nation was celebrating 76th Republic Day on Sunday. Prior to this, he had set the stone carved constitution book near the statue on fire.

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The incident invited widespread condemnation and uproar of the opposition leaders who raised question over current law and order situation in Punjab, while also triggering agitation by various Dalit organisations. Protests were witnessed in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

“The mobile phone of the accused was sent for forensic examination. His profiles on various social media are being scanned to ascertain his motive behind the highly deplorable instance,” said a police official wishing not to be named.

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Akash belongs to a poor family involved in labour works. His mother works as domestic help at Dharamkot in Moga, while his father works as a farmer labourer. The family lives in a rented accommodation in Moga.

As per investigation carried out so far, Akash had returned from Dubai on October 11, 2024, after three years. He had gone to Abu Dhabi on June 27, 2022, where he did labour work in different areas.

After returning to India, he did not meet his family members, but frequently visited Amritsar on different occasions. He also stayed at Sri Guru Ram Das Sarai near the Golden Temple during his visits to the city, said sources in the Police Department.

On January 26, he found a ladder unattended near Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue, which was brought from the Fire Department by Nitish Bhaseen, for cleaning and garlanding the statue. However, the ladder remained unattended till evening which gave an opportunity to Akash Singh for executing the desecration act.

It is learnt that the civic authorities were also investigating gross negligence of officials of the Fire Department. Appropriate action would be taken against negligent staff members after completion of the inquiry.

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