West Bengal sculptor alleges Kaali idol vandalism, CCTV reveals him as culprit
The incident took place on Diwali/Kaali Puja in the workshop of sculptor Prabhat Sardar
Tension has been prevailing in West Bengal’s Diamond Harbour since Monday, October 24, when several idols of Goddess Kaali were found vandalised at a workshop. It was later revealed that the sculptor himself had broken the idols.
The incident took place on Diwali/Kaali Puja in the workshop of sculptor Prabhat Sardar in the Mukandpur area. Sardar alleged that miscreants broke into his workshop at night and damaged several idols. The news of the vandalism angered locals, who started gathering in numbers. As the situation escalated, a large police contingent, led by the SDPO, was deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.
An investigation into the case was then launched and two days later it came to the fore that failing to get enough buyers, Sardar had himself broken the idols. CCTV footage helped police zero in on the culprit.
When interrogated, Sardar revealed that he was scared of his reputation getting ruined if word spread that his idols could not get buyers before Kaali Puja. This would affect his future business as well, he told the police. That’s why he decided to damage the idols and cite that as an excuse for his failure to sell idols.
South 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police Dhritiman Sarkar said that three people, including Sardar, have been detained so far. He also appealed to people to not pay attention to any rumour.
