Statue of Biju Patnaik set on fire in Odisha's Bolangir

Bhubaneswar: A statue of former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik was on Tuesday set ablaze at Patnagarh town in Bolangir district, police said.

The BJD, CPI and other Left parties condemned the incident.

IGP (North Range) Himansu Kumar Lal said one man has been detained in the statue burning case. The IGP said the man appeared to be mentally unstable.

Senior BJD leader Pramila Mallik criticised the state government for growing attacks on Biju Patnaik's statue in different places. "It is not only that the Biju Patnaik's statue was set on fire, but also setting Odisha's pride ablaze. No one will support this kind of vandalism," said former minister and BJD leader Prasanna Acharya.

BJD leader Sanjay Das Barma said such type of incidents are taking place after the state's BJP government stopped observing Panchayati Raj Day on Biju Patnaik's birthday on March 5.

This is the third such incident in the recent past. In March, miscreants had vandalised a statue of Biju Patnaik in the Mahanga area of Cuttack district.

In another instance, the colour of Biju Patnaik's statue was also changed in Cuttack city last month. The Bolangir incident is the third such incident in the series, a BJD leader said.