The district Trinamool leadership in Cooch Behar took the initiative to install a bust of Panchanan Barma, the most revered statesman of the Rajbanshi community, in Fansirghat of Cooch Behar-I block on Tuesday.

The statue was installed on the occasion of the 91st death anniversary of the
social reformer.

On September 6, unidentified goons had severed the bust of Barma from the plinth on the site.

The incident sparked protests across the area. Prominent persons from the community, both Rajbanshi Hindus as well as Nasya Sheikhs (Rajbanshi Muslims), criticised the vandalism. Those responsible for the vandalism should be arrested, they
had demanded.

The incident also prompted Abhijit De Bhowmik, the Cooch Behar district Trinamool president, to lead a rally in protest of the act. Bhowmik had promised to install a new bust of Barma on the same spot by September 9.

On Tuesday, as the state observed the death anniversary of the Rajbanshi statesman, Bhowmik, accompanied by Trinamool leaders and residents, unveiled and garlanded the new bust.

“We have installed the new statue and paid homage to Thakur Panchanan Barma. The police are probing the vandalism case, and we hope they will find the goons behind the reprehensible act,” said Bhowmik.

“We suspect it was a shameful attempt to foment tension in the area. But the people here have spontaneously foiled the attempt. We have urged residents to properly maintain the new statue and its surroundings,” he added.