Army man’s statue, goddess’ idol vandalised in Gurugram

An idol of a Hindu goddess in a temple and a statue of an army man, who had died in duty in 2007, located in close vicinity in Pahari village of Pataudi, were vandalised by unidentified persons late Tuesday, the police said on Wednesday.

Police said the incident took place around 1am at a memorial and the temple, built adjacent to each other, in the village on Rewari-Pataudi road.

According to the police, the statue was built in March 2008 to commemorate the services of Naik Anil Kumar, a native of village Pahari, who had died in a security operation when he was posted with the Armoured Regiment in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir.

His father, Jagraj Singh, an ex-serviceman, said that around 5am, when he reached the memorial for cleaning, he noticed that the forearms of the five-foot-tall statue were broken and the face was damaged. “I found a few stones and bricks near the statue. The nose and ears of the statue have been disfigured. The incident has hurt my sentiments. This is the first time such an incident has taken place. The memorial was built after my son had died away and I visit it daily to pay my respects,” said Singh.

A hand of the idol of Radha, the consort of Lord Krishna, in the adjoining temple, was broken. Police said two statues of freedom fighters, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad, which stand on either side of the soldier’s statue, were untouched.

Rajesh Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Manesar, said that according to a preliminary investigation, the incident was unplanned. “It seems to be the handiwork of some anti-social elements. The brick used for vandalism is from the area around the temple itself. Several teams are a part of the probe,” said DCP.

Police said the villagers had gathered around the memorial on Wednesday morning, demanding that the disfigured statue be either repaired or replaced by the local administration.

Rajesh Kumar, subdivisional magistrate (SDM), Pataudi, said, “The local administration will get a new statue set up at the memorial in two days. No law and order incident was reported due to the incident.”

Police said Gajraj Singh had informed the village sarpanch, who reported the matter to the police.

Pardeep Yadav, village sarpanch, who filed a police complaint, said that the incident possibly took place after 11pm. “After intimation to the police, a team of senior police officers and crime branch officials reached the village. It is an unfortunate incident, but it seems to be an isolated incident,” said Yadav.

A case was registered against the unidentified accused person/s under Section 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code at Pataudi police station on Wednesday, the police said.

In April, a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in New Palam Vihar was vandalised and a complaint was filed at the Bajghera police station. No arrest was made in the case. In January 2018, another statue of Dr Ambedkar was found broken and disfigured in Sikanderpur Bada village of Manesar.

First Published: Aug 07, 2019 21:51 IST