There was an uproar in Abohar on Sunday after early morning walkers found that the memorial of Vir Chakra recipient and the1965 war martyr,Major Surinder Prasad,had been set ablaze. The residents were further angered when they sought the help of Abohar SDM,Jasdeep Singh Aulakh and SP Abohar,Varinderpal Singh Brar,whose houses are located nearby,but both did not come out. According to the residents,both officers were approached at about 6 am but Aulakh turned up at the site at about 10 am while Brar was reportedly out of town so in his place,DSP Balluana,Mohinder Singh inspected the memorial at about 9 am. The police have registered a case against unidentified people for the incident. The towns residents,however,reached the memorial and began cleaning the statue. At the site,from NGOs to politicians cutting across party lines and ex-servicemen,all were involved in the cleaning operations. Volunteers from the Punjabi Sabhyachar Manch and a few other NGOs began to polish the statue with the administration finally stepping in,by providing a temporary electricity connection to facilitate the polishing. Sunil Jakhar,MLA of the constituency said, In the past miscreants had defaced Indira Priyadarshani Award recipient Sant Kumar Bishnois statue as well. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had promised to get the miscreants nabbed within 10 days but they are at large even after 10 months. None of the CCTV cameras that have been installed at different crossings here to check road mishaps and crime are in working order. When contacted,SDM Abohar Jasdeep Singh Aulakh,however,said,It is indeed an unfortunate incident but the police have booked a case and the statue will be in proper order by tonight itself. The SDM,however,stated that his team reached the spot well in time.
