AMRITSAR: The police arrested a man on Sunday for allegedly trying to damage a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar located at Town Hall on Heritage Street, which leads to the Golden Temple,  officials said.

The Amritsar police registered a case against the accused and took him into custody. Further investigation into the incident is ongoing, police confirmed.

A video of the event, which went viral on social media, shows the man climbing the statue using a long steel ladder. He was holding a hammer and appeared to be attempting to damage the statue.

#WATCH | Punjab | Jagjit Singh Walia, AIG Amritsar, says, "A few miscreants tried to tamper with BR Ambedkar's statue at Town hall. We caught them and a case has been registered and an investigation is going on. The motive behind the incident is yet to be found out..." pic.twitter.com/upLrUpbagA

— ANI (@ANI) January 26, 2025

Former Punjab minister Raj Kumar has called for strict action against the accused and requested a thorough investigation, especially since the incident happened on Republic Day.

BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh strongly criticized Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, blaming the incident on the poor law and order situation in the state.

In a similar case last December, an unidentified person damaged a replica of the Constitution held by Dr. Ambedkar's statue outside the Parbhani railway station in Maharashtra. This act led to violent protests, with a crowd of around 200 people gathering near the statue, shouting slogans, and demanding strict action.

The protests escalated into stone-pelting and arson in the area. Some demonstrators rushed to the railway station, assaulted the locomotive pilot of the Nandigram Express train, and blocked the railway tracks for more than 30 minutes. Local police and the Government Railway Police (GRP) eventually dispersed the crowd, allowing the train to resume its journey after nearly an hour.