LG orders demolition of former Tihar DG's statue

A former Tihar jail chief is being knocked down from her pedestal.

A statue of former director general (Prisons) Vimla Mehra, installed at the prison premises six months back, will now be demolished. Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung issued orders for this on Thursday.

As if emulating former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, Mehra inaugurated her own life-size statue on January 27.

The statue was constructed by a murder convict Ram Chander who is serving life imprisonment and has been lodged in the jail for more than seven years.

The location of the statue which is placed beside a massive statue of Bharat Mata (Mother India) was also objected by many activists, NGOs and lawyers who visited the jail complex. The total cost of the two statues is estimated to be about Rs 30 lakh. The amount was used from the Prisoners Welfare Fund.

The statue caused controversy after four months when an NGO complained against Mehra’s statue to the prime minister’s office in June this year. In July, Mehra was transferred back to the Delhi Police reportedly for putting up her own statue.

“Erection of any statue of any person (living or dead) on a government premises without its permission is illegal. The LG has asked the Tihar authorities to demolish the statue of former director general (Prisons) Vimla Mehra which was erected illegally in the jail premises,” an official posted with the LG’s secretariat told Deccan Herald.

 The 1978 batch Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories cadre officer, however, had defended construction of the statue costing just Rs 5,000.