Unknown miscreants vandalised the pedestal and nameplate of a newly installed statue of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on Sukiya Street in North Kolkata during the early hours of Sunday, July 5, 2026, ahead of its formal unveiling to disrupt the leader’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations.
Local site workers discovered the desecration around 10:00 AM on Sunday when they returned to find the concrete tiles smashed and the name plaque completely shattered. An adjacent statue of Gopal Mukherjee was also targeted with its base suffering similar structural damage. Fortunately, the upper busts of both historical figures remained completely unharmed.
The incident sparked intense political controversy as it occurred just hours before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s high-profile visit to the city. Right-wing leaders strongly condemned the vandalism, labelling it a direct attack on Mookerjee’s socio-political legacy. Representatives from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), who spearheaded the monument’s setup, immediately registered a formal complaint at the Amherst Street Police Station. While opposition factions pointed fingers at rival political party workers, state ministers dismissed claims that such acts could diminish the leader’s historical stature in West Bengal.
The Kolkata Police intervened quickly to pacify the rising local tensions and prevent clashes between opposing political groups. Security forces have launched a rigorous multi-angle inquiry, deploying forensic units and analyzing local closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to track the perpetrators. Law enforcement authorities later confirmed the arrest of a 26-year-old suspect from Narkeldanga in connection with the late-night destruction.
Despite the unrest, the state government proceeded with extensive public arrangements to observe the milestone birth anniversary, which included declaring July 6 a public holiday across West Bengal. Repair crews worked continuously through the day to reinstall the broken nameplates and restore the pedestal before the scheduled commemoration ceremonies began.
