Nadda forms 6-member panel to probe vandalism of Ambedkar statue in Amritsar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Friday constituted a panel to probe the vandalism of Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue situated outside Town Hall on Heritage Street in Amritsar on January 26.

Condemning the incident, Nadda, in a party’s press release, demanded that the AAP government in Punjab should take stringent action and constituted a delegation to conduct inquiry into the incident.

“In the wake of this unfortunate incident, the party has constituted a delegation, which will visit Amritsar and conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit the report to the national president”, the statement said.

The delegation comprises Rajya Sabha member and UP’s former DGP Brij Lal, party’s SC Morcha national president Lal Singh Arya, former Union minister Som Parkash, party national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan, UP minister Aseem Arun and BJP leader Banto Dev Kataria.

SAD seeks judicial inquiry

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) working committee on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

Addressing the media after the working committee meeting held in Chandigarh on Friday acting president Balwinder Singh Bhundar and party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said it’s a conspiracy to divide various communities in Punjab.

Cheema said this seemed to be part of a decade-long conspiracy to spoil peace and communal harmony in Punjab. “As part of this conspiracy earlier religious books were desecrated,” Cheema said.

Cheema added that the party believes only a judicial probe could uncover the masterminds behind this act.

“This probe should be initiated at the earliest besides taking action against civil and police officials who failed in their duty to protect the statue on the occasion of Republic Day when the entire state was on high alert,” Cheema added.

Accused’s remand extended by 5 days

AMRITSAR The local court in Amritsar extended the police custody of Akash Singh, a resident of Dharamkot in Moga district, accused of attempting to vandalise a statue of BR Ambedkar by five days.

“The previous remand of the accused ended on Friday. The accused was produced in the court. Agreeing with the ground of prosecution, as per which his presence is needed in the police custody for the investigation, the court granted five more days of remand to the police,” said Jaspal Singh, ACP (Central).

The vandalism took place on January 26. The accused climbed atop the statue using a ladder put in place for political leaders to pay floral tributes on Republic Day. As per the purported video clip, the accused allegedly attempted to damage the Ambedkar statue at the Town Hall on Heritage Street, which leads to the Golden Temple with a hammer. In the clip, the accused is seen hitting the statue multiple times with the hammer. The man also caused damage to the Constitution book, which is part of the statue. He was later apprehended and handed over to the police.

The incident sparked protests across the state and the country by members of various Dalit organisations and political parties.