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Chandigarh: FIR against unidentified persons for setting effigy ablaze on Dussehra eve
Some miscreants set ablaze the effigy of Ravana at the Sector 30 ground last night. We urgently need a 50-foot-tall effigy for the celebrations
Two days after miscreants set fire to an effigy installed for Dussehra celebrations in Sector 30, police have registered a case against two unidentified men.
According to the complaint filed by Chandan, 35, president of the Ashwani Bal Dramatic Club, three effigies had been installed at the Sector 30 ground near RBI Colony for the annual Ramlila festivities. Around 11.15 pm on Dussehra eve, two men—one wearing a helmet and the other carrying one—approached the Ravana effigy, set it on fire, and fled towards a nearby park.
On receiving the information, sub-inspector Baljit Singh and constable Jagat reached the spot. The mobile forensic team was also called in for site inspection, photography, and videography. Based on the statement and evidence collected, an FIR was registered at the Industrial Area police station under Sections 326(f) (causing mischief by fire) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
On the day of Dussehra, Prem Garg, a resident from Chandigarh, issued an urgent appeal to the community to arrange a new effigy, nearly 50-ft tall, to replace the one destroyed. “Some miscreants set ablaze the effigy of Ravana at the Sector 30 ground last night. We urgently need a 50-foot-tall effigy for the celebrations. We are ready to provide double the cost if anyone can arrange a ready-made torso or complete effigy on short notice. This is not about whether Ravana burns or not, it is about not bowing down to such anti-social elements,” Garg said.
This is not the first such incident in the city. In 2022, an 80-ft effigy of Meghnad, Ravana’s son, was gutted in Sector 46 when four youngsters directed a rocket cracker towards it a night before. Incidentally, the ground also featured Chandigarh’s tallest Ravana effigy that year, standing at 92-ft.
Police said efforts are underway to identify the suspects behind the Sector 30 incident through closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and technical surveillance.
