While India celebrated Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birthday, unknown miscreants stole a part of his ashes in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa at Bapu Bhawan, police said Thursday. The miscreants also wrote "anti-national" on the Mahatma photo, which was mounted inside the Bhawan on a hoarding-like structure. President of the Rewa District Congress Gurmeet Singh noticed the confusion when he came to pay tribute to Laxman Bagh, who houses the Bapu Bhawan. He filed a formal complaint with the police and staged a rally with Congress staff demanding the miscreants ' recognition and intervention.
Police Superintendent Abid Khan of Rewa reported that a case was registered against unidentified miscreants under Sections 153B, 504 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code. "We got Gurmeet Singh's complaint and an FIR was lodged. We're trying to identify Bapu Bhawan's culprits and CCTV footage and nearby areas are being searched," he said. The area's residents are in a shocking state and at a loss of words about how miscreants could reach Bapu Bhawan and vandalize the image without being noticed. In a tweet, the great-grandfather of the Mahatma, Tushar Gandhi, also expressing his shock at the creation, said: "Just heard the news that someone/people stole my great grandfather's funeral ashes in a shrine at Gandhi Bhavan in Rewa Madhya Pradesh. They also defaced his image by spraying the word ' Traitor. ' Wish he wasn't the nation's father, wish he wasn't Mahatma. Source: Newsagency