Miscreants deface Akbar Road, name it Maharana Pratap Road

NEW DELHI: Miscreants on late Tuesday night played mischief in New Delhi's Akbar Road, where a signboard defaced and overnight covered with a poster that read 'Maharana Pratap Road'.

The yellow and pink poster, apparently put up by vandals, was removed from the signboard on Wednesday morning by Delhi Police when the matter was brought to their notice.

The iconic road, named after Mughal emperor Akbar, is home to some of the top politicians in the country and also the Congress party headquarters.

Incidentally, the defacement comes ahead of the birth anniversary of the great Mewar warrior on May 9.

In 2016, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader said he had proposed to the New Delhi Municipal Council, the civic body in charge of New Delhi, that the road should be renamed after Maharana Pratap.

In 2015, the civic body had changed the name of another prominent road, named after Akbar's great-grandson Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb Road was renamed Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, after the former President.

This is not the first time that an Akbar Road signboard has been defaced. Last year, signages bearing the name Akbar Road were vandalised and posters were put up on them declaring the stretch as 'Maharana Pratap Marg'.

Hindu Sena, a right-wing outfit, had then claimed to be behind the act.