A day after the Bengal chief minister warned about disparaging remarks, a Netaji statue in Kolkata was “vandalised.”

A statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Kolkata was allegedly vandalised on Thursday, less than a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari issued a strong warning against anyone making disparaging comments and social media posts targeting the freedom warrior.

According to a top Kolkata Police officer, the event prompted the police to begin an investigation. Locals and political workers were incensed after the statue’s right hand was discovered to be damaged near a three-way crossing in the New Alipore neighbourhood of south Kolkata.

“We are trying to establish when and how the statue was damaged. It is not immediately clear whether the damage was deliberately caused, and the circumstances under which it occurred,” the police officer told

As part of their inquiry, police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the damage and will probably examine accessible CCTV footage and other evidence. In relation to the incident, no arrests have been made thus far. When local BJP officials visited the location on Wednesday nite, they claimed that miscreants had vandalised the statue and asked that they be arrested right away.

According to Tarak Banerjee, organisational secretary for the BJP South Kolkata, the episode was especially noteworthy because it happened shortly after the chief minister’s warning. “The chief minister had made it clear that disrespect towards Netaji would not be tolerated and that the administration would take strict action. The vandalism of his statue within 24 hours raises serious questions,” he said, demanding a speedy investigation and arrest of those responsible.

Adhikari had on Wednesday directed the police to take stringent action against those making derogatory remarks against the freedom fighter.

“I am directing the police to arrest those who have dared to make insulting, false and defamatory statements about Netaji on social media. They must immediately apologise and delete the disrespectful posts,” Adhikari had said. “Deleting the post will not mean that the person will be let off. The police will take action according to the law,” he added.

Days after BJP MP Nagendranath Roy, also known as Ananta Maharaj, called Netaji a “war criminal” and questioned his leadership and the role of the Azad Hind Fauj in India’s freedom movement, Adhikari was directed to the police.

The chief minister gave the police strict guidelines under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and ordered them to detain anyone who made such disparaging comments about the freedom warrior. In addition, the West Bengal government withdrew Ananta Maharaj’s “Banga Bibhushan” award on Thursday due to the controversy surrounding his comments on Netaji.