Lahore man vandalises statue of Raja Ranjit Singh

A year after it was first vandalised, the statue of Punjab’s former ruler Raja Ranjit Singh — located near his grave at Lahore's Royal Fort — has again been damaged.

A young man allegedly broke the arm of the Maharaja's statue, following which the police arrested him and registered a case.

According to police, the suspect hails from Lahore's Harbanspura.

Talking about the incident, the fort's security guard claimed that the man had suddenly jumped over the barrier to reach Singh's statue.

The attacker, reportedly exclaiming "why has the statue been installed in the fort", proceeded to damage the sculpture.

After the suspect broke the arm of the statue, the security guards caught him and handed him over to the police.

Last year in August, two men had allegedly vandalised the statue. 

Both men went straight to the statue and started hitting it with wooden rods, resulting in the breakage of one of its arms, besides damage to other parts of the statue.

Security guards had rushed to the spot and captured the attackers who were chanting slogans against the former ruler of Punjab.

Later, the attackers were handed over to the police, who registered a case against them on the complaint of Walled City Authority.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Ghazanfar Shah had said that the attackers were motivated and vandalised the statue "on the basis of religious bias".