VIJAYAWADA: Unidentified persons destroyed the statue of late Congress leader Vangaveeti Ranga at Pipula Road, Ajith Singh Nagar, here in the early hours of Sunday.
The locality remained tense as Ranga loyalists led by his son and YSRC leader Vangaveeti Radhakrishna rushed to the spot and staged a dharna.
Sources said that the statue of Ranga was removed from its platform and thrown onto the road during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
The locals saw the broken bust in the wee hours of Sunday and informed Ranga’s family immediately.
Radhakrishna later placed a photograph of his father on the statue platform and garlanded it. He asked the culprits to surrender before the police, failing which he said Ranga’s followers would teach them a lesson.
He added that he would replace the destroyed statue with a grander one.
Police have concluded that there was no sign of vandalism and some drunkards must have destroyed the statue. The police could not obtain any CCTV footage of the area to identify the culprits, but efforts are on to nab them. A case has been registered under IPC 427 for mischief.