Batala, April 4: Batala Police arrested six individuals for allegedly vandalising a statue of BR Ambedkar during the night of March 31 and April 1, initially believed to have broken due to neglect.
DIG (Border Range) Satinder Singh said a thorough investigation using CCTV footage and technical analysis revealed that seven persons arrived in two cars and damaged the statue before fleeing.
“Six of the seven have been arrested and presented in court. One accused is still at large,” he added. SSP Suhail Qasim Mir and SP (D) Gurpartap Singh Sahota were also part of the probe team.
Pattern of Attacks Across Punjab
The incident comes days after another Ambedkar statue was defaced in Nangal village near Phillaur, Jalandhar. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, chief of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), claimed responsibility. Slogans were spray-painted on the protective glass and derogatory banners were placed around the statue.
Pannun has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Phillaur police have also registered a separate case under Section 299 of the BNS for hurting religious sentiments.
On January 26, another Ambedkar statue was targeted on Amritsar’s Heritage Street, where a youth from Moga climbed the statue in an attempted act of vandalism.
Police have expressed concern over the recurring pattern of such incidents in recent months.
