Ambedkar statue defaced in Chennai

Adding to the list of statues of leaders being vandalised in various parts of the country, a bust of Dalit leader B R Ambedkar in a residential locality here was found defaced on Thursday, triggering a protest.

The bust, placed inside a structure covered with a grill in a residential neighbourhood in Tiruvotriyur, was splattered with paint.

As news of the defacement spread, people in north Chennai area staged a protest. A police team visited the spot and assured action against the culprits. An FIR has been registered and two special teams formed to trace the miscreants, police said.

A series of incidents of desecration of statues of various leaders, including Ambedkar, rationalist E V Ramasamy "Periyar" and Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, has been reported from different parts of the country. The incidents began after the statues of Communist icon Vladimir Lenin were pulled down in Tripura following BJP's victory in the Assembly elections, ending 25 years of Communist rule.