Charlie Chaplin's statue causes controversy in Mangalore

Mangalore, Mar. 16 (ANI): A statue of Hollywood's most famous comedian Charlie Chaplin has sparked controversy in Karnataka.

Some radical activists protested against the construction of the statue, which was being set up for a dance sequence of a film called 'House Full', saying that they would not let a statue of a Christian actor to be built near the temple.

The Chaplin statue was being set-up up near a temple at the Ottinene beach near Udupi, but some locals along with Jagrana Vedike activists halted the construction.

"He is a Christian and does not belong to this region. There was a historic character called Tenali Rama in Vijayanagar kingdom of the state many years ago. If they make his statue and erect it we have no problem but why his (Chaplin) statue? We do not want it here," noted Harish, a local.

Although the objection by the locals made the film unit to abandon their erection of the of Charlie Chapin statue plans, but in the absence of formal complaint, no case has been registered so far.

"The public objected to the excavation of the earth for installing the statue. The film people stopped the work and went back. Since no untoward incident as such taken place, so no case has been lodged," said Gopal Hosur, Inspector General of Police, Mangalore.

The statue was to be set up an estimated cost of 3.5 million rupees.

Earlier, Jagrana Vedike was alleged to be involved in an attack on a Christian school in Karnataka in 2008. (ANI)