Pune Shocker! Man Wearing Saffron Kurta Attempts To Desecrate Mahatma Gandhi's Statue With Sickle; Held

A shocking incident happened on Sunday night outside Pune Railway Station where a man attacked the statue of Mahatma Gandhi with a sickle. The man has been identified as Suraj Shukla.

Regarding the matter, Congress staged a protest on Monday against Shukla for attempting to desecrate the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Arvind Shinde, city President of the Congress Party, speaking to Free Press Journal, said, "Such incidents have happened earlier as well, and police always release the accused in pretext of proving the persons as mentally challenged."

Shinde further said, “How such people could be mentally challenged? He wore saffron clothes and knew well whose statue was going to be damaged. There are many other statues of political leaders, but he chooses Gandhi’s statue? We are protesting to demand strict action against him and send him to jail.”

What was the incident?

According to the information, Suraj came to the spot wearing a saffron-colored kurta and holding a sickle in his hand. He suddenly climbed onto the platform where Gandhi’s statue is placed and started hitting the statue (mainly on the chest and legs). Shukla tried to damage the head of the statue, but before he could do that, the nearby passengers, auto rickshaw drivers, and railway police caught him.

Sunil Kumar Yadav, RPF Inspector (Pune Railway Station), speaking to FPJ, said, “Suraj is originally from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He had come to Pune for work and was selling religious books and rudraksha malas. Shukla had recently bought the sickle for breaking coconuts but used it to desecrate the statue.”

Bund Garden police are checking if Suraj is connected to any group or if he did this alone. Suraj had hatred towards Mahatma Gandhi for a long time. On Sunday night, in his rage, he went to demolish the statue. He will be presented in court, and a detailed investigation will be conducted accordingly.