Sambalpur: Police is probing the damage of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the premises of Jyoti Vihar, the campus of Sambalpur university, by unknown miscreants just a day after it was inaugurated on Monday.
"We visited the spot in the morning and inquired about it. We are investigating into it and action will taken accordingly", Burla IIC Tophan Bag said.
The probe was initiated after university authorities lodged a complaint in this regard. "We don’t think that wind had razed the statue. We have lodged a complaint and informed the Collector and SP about it," Vice chancellor Chittaranjan Tripathy said.
The district unit of Congress announced it would stage a protest in the matter on April 7. "Sambalpur Congress committee demands stringent action against the guilty. To protest, gainst it, the Congress will shut down all administrative activities of the university on April 7", Burla Congress committee secretary Girija Nayak said.
BJD also condemned the act. "This is very unfortunate. The police should investigate it properly and take stern action against the culprits, BJD MLA Rohit Pujari said.
The desecration of the statue of the Father of the Nation has invited widespread condemnation in the area.