The glass of a photo frame at the memorial of former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Minister V. Thangapandian in Mallankinaru was smashed on Monday night.
The watchman at the memorial, S. Sangili (65), on Tuesday gave a complaint with Mallankinaru police. The police have issued a community service register (CSR) receipt.
The watchman has complained that three persons, K. Perumal (20) of Madurai, R. Raghu (21) and A. Kumar (22) of Mudiyanoor near Kariyapatti, had come to the memorial on Sunday. When they tried to take photographs, the watchman had objected to it and asked them to leave. It is said that the trio had beaten up the watchman before leaving.
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Thangapandian was the Minister for Cooperation in the M. Karunanidhi cabinet in 1996. He was also the party district secretary.
His son and former Minister Thangam Thennarasu said he was out of station when the incident happened. “Some miscreants had come to the memorial and smashed the glass in the photo frame. They had also torn the garland on the portrait,” he told The Hindu . The watchman was away when the incident had happened, he said.
However, Mr. Thennarasu, representing the Tiruchuli Assembly constituency, said he was not aware of the motive behind it.
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Mr. Thennarasu was part of the six-member committee constituted to revamp the party district units following the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha election. The committee had recommended bifurcation of several party units across the State, including in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari in the south.
Mr. Thennarasu, who was formerly seen closer to former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri, was also part of a two-member team formed by the party to look into the complaints against party leaders. Based on its recommendations, only on Saturday the DMK had suspended 33 functionaries, many of them seniors, from the party.
Show-cause notices have been issued to them seeking explanation as to why should they not be expelled from the party. Among them was the Virudhunagar district deputy secretary S.M. Bose, a staunch supporter of Mr. Alagiri.