Neeraj Chopra Statue: Meerut Police have confirmed that the recent claim of an alleged theft of javelin from a Neeraj Chopra statue in the city as ‘fake news’. The confirmation comes after a video of the missing Javelin from the statue went viral on social media on Tuesday. The statue is situated in the busy Hapur Adda crossing at the heart of the city.
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According to the Indian Express, Lokesh Khurana, a social activist was the first to notice the missing part from the Neeraj Chopra statue. He was quoted as saying, “The part is either broken or stolen. If it has been stolen, efforts on a war footing should be made to trace the same. If it is broken, an inquiry should immediately be ordered to fix responsibility.”
Meerut Police soon began the investigation. They called reports of the javelin being stolen “misleading” after conversations with Meerut Development Authority. “It came to light that a fake spear installed two months ago has been replaced with a real one,” tweeted Meerut Police.
The statue of Neeraj Chopra was installed only on August 29 at the Hapur Adda crossing. The MDA installed the statue following Neeraj Chopra’s performance in the World Championships this year. The 25-year old bagged India’s first-ever gold medal in the event.
Neeraj Chopra will next be in action at the Diamond League Final and Asian Games. He is the defending champion in the Diamond League. The Indian is also looking to clinch successive gold medals in the Asian Games.
