Nagpur: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has repainted two police-themed murals on the pillars of the newly constructed Kamal Chowk-Golibar Chowk railway overbridge in Pachpaoli, part of the Rs998-crore Indora-Dighori Project, after a social media storm erupted over a name written on a police officer’s nameplate in one of the paintings.The murals were located near the Pachpaoli police station. One depicted a male cop in khaki uniform using a wireless set, while the other featured a smiling woman police officer with her head slightly bowed.The controversy began after social media users noticed that the female officer’s nameplate carried the artist’s name, triggering allegations that the painter had inserted his own identity into the artwork.According to NHAI officials, the murals were part of the overbridge’s beautification project and were intended to acknowledge the presence of the nearby police station.“The murals were police-themed because the overbridge is located adjacent to the Pachpaoli police station. Our painter had intentionally left the nameplate blank. However, someone later wrote their own name on it, which led to the backlash. Since the issue generated unnecessary controversy, we decided to repaint both murals,” an NHAI official said.Several local residents, however, felt the controversy was unwarranted. They said the murals were respectful and that a section of social media users had unnecessarily amplified the issue over the nameplate.Senior PI Aniruddha Puri of Pachpaoli police station clarified that the police had no role in either commissioning or removing the murals.“The murals were entirely an NHAI project. The police had no involvement in creating them. Both murals were repainted solely because of the controversy,” Puri said.
