Award winning sculptor’s artwork worth Rs 40 lakh found damaged in Hyderabad

A noted sculptor's artwork was found damaged by miscreants in Hyderabad. The sculptures worth around Rs 40 lakh were found dumped on the roadside near Himayatsagar. The sculptor K Kumara Swamy, is also a National award winning artist and has received accolades from the Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao, as per reports.

According to a report from Deccan Chronicle, Kumara Swamy is a resident of Gandipet. His sculptures were placed in a rented godown in Kismatpura. He had taken the godown on lease from M Naveen Kumar for about a year and half to run his workshop from there. 

However, on Wednesday evening, some miscreants, claiming to be the owners, came to the godown and damaged the sculptures placed there. Some of the sculptures were burnt and some were thrown into a nearby dumpyard, as per a Times of India report. 

Speaking to the police, Kumara Swamy said that of the damaged sculptures, some of them were ready for handover while some were in the making. Now, with the miscreants damaging them, all of the statues have got damaged, which resulted in a loss of over Rs 40 lakh. 

According to the Times of India report, a police complaint has been filed against Rukma Reddy and others based on the details provided by Swamy and a case was registered for trespassing and damaging property. The accused are still missing, while the police are on the lookout for them. 

Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Kumara Swamy has mentioned that he did not have any personal relationship with the owner and he only took the land on lease. He also added that he would have vacated the property or housed the sculptures elsewhere, if he knew this would create an issue.

Media reports suggest that there was a long pending land issue between the accused and the land owner Naveen, which Kumara Swamy was not aware of.