PTI
 
Kolkata, Aug 31: The plan to project Indian cricket coach Greg Chappell as demon 'Mahisasura' at a Durga Puja pandal next month was thwarted by the police which asked the sculptor to destroy the almost complete image.    Editor's Choice

A team of Kolkata Police personnel last night visited Dilip Pal, the sculptor who was assigned the job to depict Chappell as 'Mahisasura' and asked him to dismantle the image.

Pal was commissioned by a North Kolkata puja committee to project Chappell as the demon for his reported role in Sourav Ganguly's exclusion from the Indian cricket team.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarter) P K Chatterjee said that the police action was taken after some complaints were received that depiction of Chappell as a demon would hurt the sentiments of people.

"Since Chappell is the national coach, it will hurt the sentiments of the people," Chatterjee said.

Pal said that a police team from the local police station visited him and directed him to break up the image. "I had to obey though I will incur heavy loss as the image was almost ready."

A spokesman of the associations of artistes at Kumartuli, where most of the idols are made for Durga Puja said that the police action was unjustified and the matter would be brought to the notice of Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee.