BENGALURU: The 62-foot and 750-tonne Hanuman statue on its way to Kacharakanahalli in HBR Layout on a 300-wheel truck is mired in another controversy.
A complaint has been filed against 18 people, including BJP leader Padmanabha Reddy, at the Kadugondanahalli police station by Bengaluru East Subdivision Tahsildar M.K. Jagadish. He stated that the Rama Chaithanya Vardhini Trust, which has commissioned the project, has chosen a disputed land to install the Hanuman statue at Kacharakanahalli.
The trust, with the help of a few politicians, is insisting on installing the statue at Survey Number 153, which is a 52-acre lakebed. When questioned, Jagadish said, he was threatened.
The land where the trust wants to install the statue next year is on the premises of Kodandaswami Temple. It is under dispute between the temple and the Muzrai department and the court is yet to pass a ruling in the case. “Still, the trust wants to install the statue on this piece of land,” Mr Jagadish stated. The statue has been at the centre of controversies since it started rolling towards city. First, the police stopped the truck at Hoskote, fearing violation of poll code of conduct and later, Hennur Road was dug up under a railway bridge to make way for the vehicle after it stranded there for hours due to low clearance under the bridge.
