The Aurobindo Ashram, which receives followers from various countries, here bore the brunt of attack by a group of miscreants on Thursday.
Police said a group of around 50 persons, owing allegiance to the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam and other like minded organisations, barged into the ashram, all of a sudden around noon, by raising slogans against the Central government.
They pushed down and hit M. Kannan, watchman of the ashram, when he obstructed them from forcefully entering the ashram, which was established by Sri Aurobindo in 1926 and revered by his followers. They vandalised flower pots, emblem, notice board and other objects in the ashram.
As most of the inmates and administrators were inside the ashram, the attackers spared them. On information, the police rushed to the ashram and managed to prevent further damage by pleading with the protesters not to disrupt peace in the ashram.
Exact reasons for the attack were not known but preliminary investigation has revealed that the protesters chose to attack the ashram established by Sri Aurobindo of West Bengal as they thought that the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee was also opposing the resolution against Sri Lanka in the Parliament.
According to police, the miscreants could be part of the same group which attacked Union Minister V. Narayanasamy’s camp office here on Wednesday.
Inspector General of Police, Union Territory of Puducherry, R.S. Krishnia told The Hindu that the miscreants involved in the incident had already been identified and some of them were detained for questioning their motive and role in the attack. A case would be registered based on a complaint. Action would be taken against them as per the law.
Security has been beefed up in the city following a spate of protests by students and Tamil forums. Policemen have been given specific instructions to be on the streets round-the-clock to prevent untoward incidents.
