A statue of deceased Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan at Balagangadharnatha Swami circle on Magadi Road was found vandalised on Saturday morning. This has sparked protests by the actor's fans who had installed the statue over an year ago.
Puttaraju, one of the actor's fan protesting at the site, told media persons that he had seen the statue on Friday night and discovered it was vandalised Saturday morning. "There has been pressure on us to relocate the statue to a nearby place and we had agreed to it as well. But vandalising the statue like this is extremely sad and police should arrest those behind this," he said.
Senior police officials said that the installation of the Vishnuvardhan statue at the circle was disputed for sometime now. "Since it is Balagangadharnatha Swami circle, sections of the society wanted his statue to be installed at the circle and the actor's statue shifted to another location," a senior official said.
Housing Minister and local MLA V. Somanna condemned the vandals and said given that the actor's fans were willing to relocate the statue, vandalising it in the midnight was uncalled for. "We will talk to all sides and peacefully resolve the issue and reinstall Vishnuvardhan's statue at another location soon," he said.
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