SP Singh/Ghaziabad

Unidentified criminals damaged the statue of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar here at Sant Nirankari Colony Park on Monday under Vijay Nagar Police Station of the city. The irate local residents blocked the vehicular movement on Medical College road. Traffic movement could be resumed only after the FIR was lodged.

According to sources, unidentified criminals, in the wee hours of Monday, damaged a leg, an arm and part of spectacle of Dr Bim Rao Amdedkar's statue. The remaining leg of the statue was tied up with a dirty cloth taken out from the gutter. The neck of the statue was also tied up by the same cloth. This sorry scene of the statue was first noticed by some local residents at 5.00am when they came for exercise in the park. The news of this damage of the statue spread like fire and local residents assembled at the park.

The Ambedkar Youth Organisation's activists informed the police. "But the police reached the spot after two hours of receiving the information. They took the matter very lightly." Said Mr Bir Singh, former president of BAMSAFE.

About five thousand local residents of Vijay Nagar area staged a dharna on the main road which blocked the traffic movement in the entire locality. Top civil and police officials who reached the spot tried to calm the crowd, but they demanded the registration of the case, arrest of the culprits within 24 hours and replacement of the statue with a new statue made of marble from Jaipur.

Finally, after three hours of dharna on the road, District police officials announced the acceptance of their demands. The Vijay Nagar Police registered the case under sections 294 of IPC and criminal amendment act on the complaint filed by Tirlok Singh. The police have arrested one Dharam Pal Raidas.

Pyarey Lal Jatav, President of Bahujan Samaj Party, said " That out of four demands two have been fulfilled. The installation of new statue and sodium light arrangements during night is yet to be fulfilled. The president has demanded the tight security arrangements of all statues throughout the district.