Youth arrested for vandalising Ambedkar’s statue in Amritsar

Despite the high security alert in the city in view of the 76th Republic Day, a youth vandalised the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar near Town Hall in Heritage Street here on Sunday.

The accused was caught by some private security personnel and handed over to the police. The incident triggered an agitation by Dalit organisations demanding a stern action against police personnel for alleged negligence of duty.

The instance invited widespread condemnation from Opposition leaders, including senior SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, PPCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Aujla, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, BJP national spokesman Pardeep Bhandari etc., over the current law and order situation in the state.

Bajwa demanded a probe into the incident by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The suspect, identified as Akash Singh of the Dharamkot area in Moga district, was produced in a court on Monday. He was remanded in four-day police custody. According to the police, the suspect belongs to the SC community.

The police have registered a case under relevant sections of the BNS. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said special teams had been constituted to investigate the matter threadbare.

Following the Amritsar bandh call by Dalit organisations, markets in the city remained closed till evening while various organisations of the community held a demonstration at Bhandari Bridge, bringing traffic to a halt. Police Commissioner, along with Deputy Commissioner of Police Jagjit Singh Walia and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishaljit Singh assured the agitators of a detailed investigation into the case. The dharna that commenced at 10.30 am was lifted around 3 pm.

Kumar Darshan, chairman of the Paawan Valmiki Tirath Action Committee, blamed the development on the alleged provocative statements by designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of the Sikh for Justice (SFJ).

Shashi Gill, another prominent leader, said the incident was aimed at creating trouble in the holy city.

Dismissing allegations of Opposition leaders, Cabinet minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal said the accused had been arrested and a stern action would be taken against him.