MUMBAI: Four members of pro-Maratha organisation Sambhaji Brigade were booked on Tuesday after they vandalised and removed the bust of noted Marathi playwright Ram Ganesh Gadkari in Pune’s famous Sambhaji Park.
“We have registered a case against four members of Sambhaji Brigade for allegedly damaging public property and stealing the bust,” Senior Police Inspector from Pune Ajay Kadam told the Express.
The case was registered after Sambhaji Brigade posted on social media about the vandalism, claimed responsibility for the incident and disclosed the names of its members, who allegedly executed the act.
“We have also recovered CCTV footage from near the garden and found that there were four persons who had removed the bust at around 2 am,” he added.
The organisation has alleged that Sambhaji was wrongly portrayed by the 19th century play writer in his half complete play Rajsanyas.
The organisation was seeking removal of the bust from the Sambhaji Garden.
“We had conveyed our opinion to Pune Municipal Corporation and had a long correspondence with them. However, they paid no heed to the demand. Hence we took it on ourselves to do the work,” said Sambhaji Brigade leader Santosh Shinde.
“It is quite ironical that the bust was installed in the garden, which was named after Sambhaji Raje. Such insult and defamation of Sambhaji Raje will not be tolerated,” he said.
Shinde also said that those who vandalised the statue will surrender before police. However, till going to press police did not confirm any such surrender. The Sambhaji Brigade said in a statement that as authorities had not heeded to demands it had taken it upon itself to remove the bust.