The Gujarat Police on Sunday registered a case against an unknown person for placing an online advertisement to “sell” the Statue of Unity. The advertisement was placed for Rs 30,000 crore on OLX. The Statue of Unity, the ad said, was being sold to meet the Gujarat government’s expenses for hospitals and medical infrastructure to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the state.
The memorial to Sardar Patel, at 182 metres, is the world’s tallest such structure and has attracted several lakh people since it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
“Some unknown person placed an advertisement on OLX on Saturday stating he needs to sell the Statue of Unity for Rs 30,000 crore to meet the requirement of money to buy hospitals and healthcare equipment,” a Kevadiya police station official said quoting the FIR.
The memorial’s authorities came to know of the issue after a newspaper ran an article, and approached police.
A case of cheating and forgery has been registered in Kevadiya in Narmada district of Gujarat. The advertisement was taken off the website immediately, Deputy Collector Nilesh Dubey told India Today TV.
“Despite him not being authorised to sell government property, this unidentified person posted the advertisement on OLX to defame the government and mislead people,” stated a release from the chief administrator of the Statue of Unity.