Tihar jail convict, serving life term constructs DG Vimla Mehra's “statue”

New Delhi, May 25: The life size

have caught frenzies of lot of great people; from celebrities to politicians, many of them have been erected in the form of statues, in and outside India.

In India, one of the most popular politician for erecting her statues is Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, who during her tenure as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, not only got her statues erected but also that of elephants, her party's symbol, all over Lucknow.

The other lady, to follow her footsteps, is not a politician, but the Director Genral of Police (DGP), Vimla Mehra of Tihar jail.

According to ET report, Mehra, who is an IPS officer of 1978 cadre, "inaugurated" her own statue near the gate of Jail number 1 on January 27 this year.

The 'lifesize' statue is said to be 5,000 square foot and is made of clay, cement and granite base. It is even lit up in the evenings.

The statue is in the form of Mehra sitting behind her desk, complete with her badges and name plate.

A lawyer was quoted as saying, "I saw prisoners kneeling before the statue. They bowed before the Bharat Mata statue and then that of 'Vimla Ma'."

Tihar's in-house magazine 'Ek Nayi Pahal' also features Mehra posing with her statue.

The statue is reportedly constructed by one of the convicts, Ram Chandar, who is serving a life sentence in a murder case and has been in jail for more than seven years, with Rs 30 lakh expenditure from the Prisoners' Welfare Fund.

However, another report claimed that Mehra said that the "maximum cost of the statue could not have been more than Rs 5,000."

Mehra, who was "pleased" by Ram Chandar's creativity said, "It was a surprise for me and a very pleasant one."

OneIndia News