After 42 months, Ambedkar statue to be released from police custody: VHR

Hyderabad: Former PCC president and Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao stated that Dr B.R. Ambedkar's bronze statue, which had been in police custody for four years, would be released soon, claiming that the 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Court, Nampally, had written to the station house officer, Panjagutta police station instructing him to hand over the statue of the architect of the Constitution.

The Congress senior leader expressed happiness over the order. “After a long committed struggle of 42 months, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue will be released from the police lock-up,” he said.

Hanumantha Rao told the media at the Gandhi Bhavan on Friday that the tireless fight of the Congress leaders had paid off, with the court ordering the police to hand over Ambedkar's statue. This was a triumph for Dalits and the oppressed for whom Dr Ambedkar fought.

'We spearheaded several agitations and organised round table meetings of all party leaders and social organisations to release the Ambedkar statue from police custody,” he stated. In this regard, he said, many letters were addressed to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the then Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana Rao, among others.

It should be mentioned that Ambedkar's statue was brought from Amalapuram on June 18, 2019. When the statue was erected in Panjagutta by Jai Bheem activists on April 12, 2019, the statue was dismantled and thrown in a dustbin the next day on the GHMC’s directions, he alleged.

Following that, he added, several protests were staged by social organisations and political party leaders.