An online advertisement to sell Statue of Unity in Kevadiya in Narmada district for Rs. 30,000 crore in the famous portal of OLX. As per the ad, the money generated by the sale of the statue will be utilized to meet the expense of hospital equipment and medical infrastructure to fight the coronavirus pandemic. An FIR has been noted against an unknown person in Gujarat.
As per the police statement quoted from the First Information Report (FIR), some unknown person put an advertisement on OLX on Saturday stating that they need to sell the Statue of Unity for Rs. 30,000 crores to meet the requirement to make hospitals and buy healthcare equipment.
The State of Unity authorities came to know about the online ad after a local newspaper published an article about it. Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Epidemic Disease Act, and Information Technology Act, a Cheating and forgery case has been filed.
The ad was brought down from the website soon after. The Chief Administrator of Statue of Unity has also issued a statement stating that an unidentified person had posted an ad on the online portal OLX, even though the person has no authority to do so. According to the administration, the ad was placed to defame the government and mislead the people. Also, such an advertisement hurts the sentiment of several crore people who idolize Sardar Patel.
The Statue of Unity was built to honor the country’s first Home Minister, Sardar Patel. It is also the world’s tallest statue at 182 meters and has attracted several lakh tourists since it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2018.
The Statue of Unity is sited on the Sadhu Bet island, close to Rajpipla on the Narmada river; the statue is sited between the Satpura and Vindhya Mountain Ranges. It has been built with a total cost of Rs. 3050 crores, which has been fully funded by the Gujarat government. The statue of unity has been built by the Padma Bhushan recipient sculptor Ram V Sutar. The nearest town of Gujarat Kevadia will be connected to the statue by a 3.5 km highway.