Bhubaneswar, April 15 : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday condemned the burning of Biju Patnaik's statue at Block Chowk of Patnagarh in Balangir district.

Speaking to media persons, senior BJP leader Sajjan Sharma said that the incident of burning of Biju Patnaik's statue is condemnable and unpardonable.

He said the BJP has immense respect for former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and the party will never tolerate such heinous incidents.

He said that following the orders of the government, the local administration had decided to install the statues of Lord Parshuram and Biju Babu.

'But burning the statue before its unveiling is highly condemnable. As an example of swift action, the youth involved in the incident, Jugal Kumar Sahu (Hiru), has been immediately arrested, and a thorough investigation is being carried out by the government and the administration,' said Sharma.

The senior BJP leader also stated that the arrested accused is a mentally challenged person and is clearly seen standing at the spot during the incident.

Sharma informed that the accused, Jugal Kumar, had climbed atop an electric pole a few months ago and was rescued after switching off the electric supply.

As per the information shared by the Patnagarh police, the accused Jugal Kishor set fire to the polythene covering the statue of Biju Patnaik located at Block Chowk, Patnagarh, at around 6 am on Tuesday morning.

On getting this information, Patnagarh Police immediately rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire.

The Patnagarh police arrested the accused following verification of CCTV and eyewitness accounts by registering a case in this regard.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has also strongly condemned the incident and directed the police to take strict action against persons involved in the crime.

The BJD on Tuesday also staged a massive protest condemning the desecration and burning of the statue of legendary leader Biju Patnaik at Patnagarh in Balangir district.

Senior BJD leaders, including Party Media Affairs Head and former Minister Pratap Jena, Vice President Debi Prasad Mishra, National Spokesperson Santrupta Mishra, Chief Whip Pramila Mallick, and a large number of senior and youth leaders, gathered near the Biju Patnaik statue at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar to register their protest.

Notably, some miscreants were arrested by the police last week for vandalising the statue of Biju Patnaik in the Mahanga area of the Cuttack district.

/IANS