The Supreme Court authorities took down the statue of the Lady Justice on the SC premises early today amid protests.

The statue was taken away around 4:30am, five hours after some five to seven workers began hammering at the base of the statue, our staff reporter reports.

After removal of the statue, Sculptor Mrinal Haque told The Daily Star, “It could not be known immediately where it has been kept”.

READ MORE: Sculpture at SC: Such statue shouldn't be here: PM

Mrinal who along with four to five workers were overseeing the removal work said, “I don’t know where the statue was kept though the authorities told me it might be reinstalled near the apex court’s annex building”.

Some five to seven workers began hammering at the base of the statue around 11:30pm yesterday.

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Protesting the incident, some 100 youths, under the banner of Bikkhubdo Nagorik (aggrieved citizens), gathered near the SC premises and blocked the road around 2:00am. They were chanting slogans like -- “Joy Bangla, why surrender to Hefajat?”

There was a pick-up parked nearby. Journalists were not allowed inside the premises.

Contacted, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the chief justice (SK Sinha) had a meeting with the incumbent and former presidents and general secretaries of the Supreme Court Bar Association, including eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain.

At the meeting, the chief justice sought their opinion about removing the statue.

“They opined that it should be removed to avert any untoward situation,” he told The Daily Star, adding that the statue might be relocated to a place near the Supreme Court Museum, which is also on the SC premises.