Punjab CM condemns vandalisation of Ranjit Singh's statue in Lahore, urges Pak to take action

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday condemned the vandalisation of Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh's statue in Lahore and "strongly" urged the Pakistani government to take action against the miscreants.

"Shocked at the vandalisation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's statue at the Shahi Qila in Lahore. The desecration of the statue of our most respected Sikh ruler is highly condemnable. Strongly urge the @pid_gov to bring the culprits to book," Singh tweeted.

The statue was vandalised in Shahi Qila area in Lahore over the weekend by two miscreants who were motivated, as the police said, "on the basis of religious biases".

One of the two men pretended to have a disability and carried a wooden stick in order to support himself. The other person allegedly helped him walk into the fort when it was routinely opened for visitors on Saturday.

The two went straight up to the statue, which was unveiled very recently in June, and started attacking it. One of the sculpture's arms were amongst the parts which sustained damage.

They were immediately captured by the security guards and handed over to the police.

A case was registered against the duo who claimed to be the reincarnations of Mahmud of Ghazni.

"The miscreants also said that erecting statues was against their religious beliefs and threatened to repeat their actions if the statue is not removed," a police officer had told Dawn.

The nine-feet tall structure in cold bronze was unveiled at the Lahore Fort on June 27 to mark the former ruler's 180th death anniversary.