Thoroughly investigated: Ramdas Athawale on alleged vandalism of BR Ambedkar statue in Amritsar

He also condemned the alleged incident taking place on Republic Day and called for a "thorough investigation" into the incident, stating, "Who was behind this, whose planning was this should be probed."

On the alleged vandalisation of BR Ambedkar's statue in Punjab's Amritsar on January 26, Athawale said in a video statement, "...Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue is located in the area around Golden Temple. It was vandalised. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's government is responsible for this. It is the responsibility of the State Government to maintain law & order...On behalf of RPI(A) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi Govt, I condemn this."

Athawale, who is President of the Republic Party of India (Athawale) called for "strict punishment" for those responsible for the act.

He also announced his plans to visit the scene of the alleged incident. RPI(A) will organise protests across Maharashtra over this incident," he added.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also strongly condemned the incident, calling it "highly condemnable." He assured that no one responsible for the act would be spared and vowed that those behind it would face severe punishment.

https://x.com/BhagwantMann/status/1883716058739048926

"No one will be allowed to break the communal harmony of Punjab. Instructions have been issued to the administration to investigate this and take strict action against the culprits,' Mann said in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.

On Sunday, the Punjab Police said that they had arrested a few miscreants for allegedly attempting to tamper with the statue. A case has been registered, and an investigation is ongoing to determine the motive behind the incident.

"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...," Jagjit Singh Walia, the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police in Amritsar told ANI.