A statue of an elephant installed at the Ambedkar Memorial Park here was stolen, prompting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati to call the theft "shameful and worrying".
Several elephants of varying sizes are present in the park which was constructed when the BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh. The elephant is the election symbol of the BSP.
Police have filed a case and initiated investigation into the incident.
Confirming the development, Gautampalli Station House Officer (SHO) S S Bhadouria said, "The security officer of the park has lodged a complaint alleging that a small elephant statue not weighing more than 5 kg and located beneath a fountain has been stolen. Based on the complaint, an FIR has been lodged against unidentified people."
Mayawati took to Twitter to criticise the incident. "Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal was made by the BSP in the honour of great saints and gurus born in Dalit and other backward classes. Theft of an elephant statue from the park, which is an important tourism spot, is shameful and worrying," she tweeted in Hindi.
"The neglect being done in the protection, security and maintenance of these grand sites first by the SP (Samajwadi Party) and then by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is a matter of great concern, considering that these spots are a source of income through tourism. The work being done at Shri Kanshiramji memorial and others are also being delayed. The government should pay attention to it," Mayawati said in another tweet.
Spread across 100 acre, the park was opened to the public in 2008, a year after Mayawati came to power in Uttar Pradesh.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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