Thirty-seven persons have been detained by police in connection with the violence at Vedaranyam in in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu that resulted in the desecration of an Ambedkar statue on Sunday evening.
Sixteen of the arrested were Dalits and the rest belonged to a caste Hindu community, police sources said.
The incident was the fallout of the torching of a multi-utility vehicle belonging to a functionary of a caste Hindu outfit by members of the other group following an argument triggered by an accident near the Vedaranyam police station in which a pedestrian belonging to the Dalit community was injured.
ADVERTISEMENT
When the driver sought refuge in the police station, supporters of the injured person started pelting stones at the station and went on to burn down the vehicle. As news spread, caste Hindus quickly assembled in large numbers and damaged the Ambedkar statue.
Meanwhile, the district administration acted swiftly to replace the life-size statue with a new one within 12 hours of the incident. “The sight of the damaged statue would have sparked outrage,” District Collector S. Suresh Kumar said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Normality returning
On Monday, buses started plying from and to Vedaranyam marking the gradual return of normality. All through the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the town was under tight security cordon.
Inspector General of Police, Central Zone, V. Varadaraju; Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thanjavur Range, J. Loganathan; and the SPs of Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts are camping in Vedaranyam to oversee security.
Police presence would be maintained for a few more days, the police sources added.