Jaipur, April 4:  In the series of attacks on statues of political figures in many parts of the country, another similar incident has come to light from Rajasthan. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by unidentified people in Rajsamand's Nathdwara town on Wednesday. The attack on statues of various political and historical figures began with the pulling down of Communist icon Lenin's statue in Tripura.

The attack on statues that began from the northeastern state has now spread to the entire country with busts and statues of several leaders coming under attack since the last month. In the past few days in series of attacks statues of Lenin, Periyar, Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Ambedkar have been damaged by miscreants.

In March, another statue of Mahatma Gandhi was found defaced in Kannur district's Taliparamba town. As per details of the vandalisation, the spectacle carving was damaged and a garland on the statue was lying nearby.  The police have arrested one man in connection with the incident. “He is mentally unstable and we are ruling out any political relation,” a police officer told ANI.

In another similar incident, unidentified people poured red paint on Ambedkar's bust in Chennai's Tiruvottiyur area in March. Also, another statue of the Dalit icon was vandalised in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh in the last month. The incident had led to a protest by the members of Dalit community in the area. Officials later installed a new Ambedkar statue to placate the protestors.

Also, statue of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee was damaged at the Keoratola crematorium and the face was blackened. Six members of the group have been detained by the police in the incident.

Condemning the incident, the state BJP leadership demanded strong action against the offenders. "We condemn the act of vandalising the statue of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee... demand very strong action against the culprits and also want to give... message that you cannot take away the contribution of Mukherjee in building West Bengal, by this shameful act," Sayantan Basu, general secretary of West Bengal BJP said in a release.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2018 01:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).