BHOPAL: The bust of Mahatma Gandhi placed at the Gandhi Park in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh was set ablaze by unidentified people on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on the 141st birth anniversary of country's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Police registered a case under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, which gives provision to punish those guilty of injuring or defiling any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class, with the intent to insult the religion of any class, and initiated an enquiry in the nearby localities to avoid any tension.
"We sent a team to the spot and found that someone might have put a burning object on the marble bust, leading to the slight melting of the spectacles on the bust,” said Morena district superintendent of police Aditya Pratap Singh. “No damage was done to the bust, except that the spectacle had bore the impact of the burn,” Singh added.
The police subsequently enquired about the matter in nearby localities but were unable to get any vital clues in the matter. The police suspect that it could be the handiwork of some miscreant, particularly any drunkard.
Further investigations are underway to track the culprits, Singh added.