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Elephant statue stolen from high-security Ambedkar park in Lucknow
Mayawati slams SP and BJP governments for “neglect in protection and maintenance of grand memorials built by the BSP regime”
LUCKNOW A 3 kg marble elephant statue installed at Lucknow’s high security Ambedkar Park, which was built by the erstwhile BSP government, was stolen three days ago. The security personnel of the memorial lodged an FIR of theft against unidentified persons with the Gautampalli police station here on Tuesday.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the theft of the statue.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, she said the BSP government had constructed the grand Bhim Rao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Memorial in honour of great saints, gurus and men born in Dalit and Other Backward Class families in the country. “The memorial is the main centre of tourism in the city and theft of elephant statue is a matter of shame and worry,” she added.
“The security personnel, Niyaz Ahmad, informed the police that a small elephant statue was stolen from the fountain area of the Bhim Rao Ambedkar memorial-phase 1 near 1090 crossing on Lohia Path. The complaint stated that the statue was stolen between 1am and 9pm on Monday. A security guard, Pramod Kumar Pandey, was deployed there for duty at that time and the statue was found missing when the security officers counted the statue during the shift change,” said SS Bhaudaria, inspector in-charge of Gautampalli police station.
A similar incident had taken place around two years ago, after which all elephant statues were counted, stated a security official. He said a special security force was set up and recruitments were done specially for the memorials during the BSP regime in UP, after these memorials were made in Lucknow and Gautam Buddh Nagar between 2007 and 2012.
At night, only security personnel can go to the area from where the statue was stolen. Police teams were scanning the CCTV footage of the entry and exit points and questioning the security personnel deployed there, said Bhaudaria.
The BSP chief said the neglect in the protection, security and maintenance of the grand sites/monuments built by the BSP government under the SP regime earlier and now under the BJP government was a matter of concern. “Many works being undertaken at the Kanshi Ram Memorial site and elsewhere are also going on at a very slow pace. The government should pay attention,” she said.
On April 28, Mayawati had sent a delegation led by BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra to chief minister Yogi Adityanath to draw the attention of the state government towards the neglect of Dalit memorials constructed under the BSP government.
In a letter to the CM, Mayawati had accused state government officers of being driven by anti-Dalit mindset and ignoring upkeep of memorials.
“Along with the Ambedkar memorial, the condition of Kanshi Ram memorial, Eco-Garden, Buddha Vihar, Ramabai rally ground and other Dalit memorials has also deteriorated. The CM should direct officers for the proper upkeep of Dalit memorials,” she added.
