Shahjahanpur (UP), Mar 30 (PTI) The municipal commissioner of Shahjahanpur has been transferred amid a row over the demolition of statues of freedom fighters located adjacent to the office of the civic body during a road-related work here by a private company.

The March 22 incident had sparked outrage and protests, with the municipal corporation drawing flak. A junior engineer and an assistant engineer were suspended but the action came under a cloud due to claims that the duo were on leave when the demolition occurred.

Late on Sunday night, the state government transferred nine IAS officers in the state, including Bipin Kumar Mishra, the Municipal Commissioner of Shahjahanpur. In his place, Saumya Gururani, who was awaiting posting, has been appointed as the new Municipal Commissioner.

Mishra has been appointed as the Additional Managing Director of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).

The Congress on Monday held a protest demanding the cancellation of Mishra’s transfer and an impartial inquiry into the entire incident to ensure punishment to those responsible for the demolition.

Leading the protest, the president of the party’s district unit, Rajneesh Gupta, burned an effigy of the Municipal Corporation.

He told reporters that the outgoing Municipal Commissioner had initially promised to install new statues. However, the old, damaged statues were reinstalled.

“During a subsequent round of talks, the Commissioner had once again given assurances that new statues would be installed and that a committee which would include a member from the martyrs’ families would be constituted,” he said.

Gupta claimed that the newly appointed Municipal Commissioner would be “unable to fully grasp the deep-rooted corruption plaguing the Municipal Corporation” and demanded that Mishra’s transfer be revoked.

The Congress party vowed to continue its protests until an impartial inquiry into the entire matter is conducted and the guilty are brought to justice.

The statues of martyrs Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Lal, and Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil — located near the Municipal Corporation office at the city’s Town Hall — were demolished on the night of March 22, triggering angry reactions from opposition parties and others. Following directives from the chief minister, the statues were installed at the site on March 26.

An FIR was filed against the company, and it was blacklisted, according to the state government.

However, it is claimed that instead of installing new statues, the administration merely repaired the old figures and re-erected them.

An organisation of the descendants of the freedom fighters — ‘Swatantrata Sangram Senani Uttaradhikari Sangathan’ — has written to CM Yogi Adityanath demanding the installation of new statues.

Freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Roshan Singh were hanged by the British on December 19, 1927, for looting a train that was carrying government funds in August 1925 in the Kakori area of Lucknow. PTI COR NAV RT RT