Uneasy calm prevailed at Chinna Udaippu, Avaniapuram, off the Ring Road leading to Kariapatti-Aruppukottai stretches, here on Wednesday.
Madurai Rural Police said that a portion of the left hand of the statue of Immanuel Sekaran, installed on Chinna Udaippu intersection along with that of B.R. Ambedkar, was found slightly damaged by some unidentified miscreants. They had fled the scene after causing the damage to the statue made of cement, police investigation revealed.
As the news spread, tension mounted in the locality. A large number of youth belonging to various Dalit outfits assembled at the point, demanding the immediate arrest of the miscreants. The agitators urged the State government to name the Madurai airport after Immanuel Sekaran and also wanted to provide adequate protection to the statue of such leaders.
Madurai SP M. Manohar rushed to the spot. Traffic was diverted on the stretch for about two hours. A large posse of policemen was deployed in the area. No untoward incident was reported as a sequel to the damage, police said.
Mr. Manohar said that the agitators were assured of a fair investigation and he had appealed to them to hold talks with the revenue authorities. Later, in the evening, a delegation represented their grievances to District Collector C. Kamaraj.
