Four held for damaging stone pillars at Hampi

Days after a carved stone pillar was vandalised at the UNESCO world heritage site at Hampi in Karnataka, four youth were arrested Thursday for their involvement in the incident, police said. "We have arrested all the four people who damaged the historic monuments," superintendent of police of Ballari district, Arun Rangarajan told PTI.

The four vandals work in Bengaluru, police sources said. The incident had triggered statewide outrage after a video of it went viral.

"While three of them felled the pillars, the fourth one shot the video," the Ballari police said in a statement. Following the incident, water resources minister D K Shivakumar had said the state government would not tolerate any act of causing damage to historical sites and stern action would be taken against the culprits.

Locals had staged a protest, demanding that adequate security be provided to the monuments. Recently, the erstwhile capital of Vijayanagar empire- Hampi- known for its rich architecture, was listed second on the New York Times list of 52 must-go sites in the world. PTI GMS ROH ROH.

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