A youth from a right-wing organisation surrendered before the Coimbatore city police in connection with the desecration of a statue of Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in Coimbatore on Friday.
The statue, located in Sundarapuram, was splashed with a saffron-coloured liquid when the police personnel deployed at the spot were away at around 5.30 a.m. on Friday, police sources said. Upon hearing the incident, a group of members from DK and Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) assembled in front of the statue and staged a demonstration demanding action. Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order) of Coimbatore City Police G. Stalin visited the spot and assured them that appropriate action will be taken on the issue, following which Kuniamuthur police began investigations.
On Friday afternoon, M. Arun Krishnan, 21, a member of Bharat Sena, a fringe outfit, accompanied by other members of the organisation turned up at the Podanur police station. The youth claimed responsibility for the act and was then sent to Kuniamuthur police station, sources said.
M. Muthukumar, district general secretary of Bharat Sena, told The Hindu that they informed the police after Mr. Krishnan admitted that he committed the act. The accused, who was the Coimbatore South district organiser of Bharat Sena, was “hurt” by the video released by the YouTube channel Karuppar Kootam that allegedly denigrated the devotional song Kanda Shashti Kavacham sung in praise of Lord Muruga.
“He took the decision himself [to commit the act] without consulting any of us,” Mr. Muthukumar claimed.
Kuniamuthur police booked the accused under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code, according to police sources.
The Central Crime Branch of the Chennai city police had, on Thursday, arrested Surenderan alias Nathigan, who was an anchor with the Tamil YouTube channel. Against this backdrop, the Coimbatore city police, as a precautionary measure, deployed police personnel to monitor six Periyar statues and three B.R. Ambedkar statues in the city since Thursday night.
Meanwhile, members of DK and TPDK organised demonstrations demanding the arrest of the miscreant in front of Periyar statues in Coimbatore and Tiruppur.
Commissioner of Police Sumit Sharan told The Hindu that the Coimbatore city police will continue to maintain vigil for the next two days to ensure that there was no flare-up of tensions.
“The situation is under control, but we will have some bandobast during night hours,” he said. About 700 police personnel will be deployed in prominent areas in Coimbatore and police protection for the statues of Periyar and Ambedkar will continue, Mr. Sharan said.
Another incident
A statue of Periyar was vandalised by miscreants at Keezhaiyur near Tirukovilur in Kallakurichi on Friday, triggering protests by members of the Dravida Kazhagam and the DMK.
Police sources said the statue was found desecrated with a garland of footwear placed around its neck. Local residents spotted the footwear on the statue at around 3 p.m. and it was immediately removed. Receiving this information, a group of cadres of DK and DMK staged a protest demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits. The Tirukovilur police are investigating.
