The Karnataka police have arrested a suspect for garlanding Tupu Sultan’s statue with slippers in Raichur district, police said on Friday. The accused is identified as 23-year-old Akash Talwar, a resident of Sirivara town in Manvi taluk. Two special teams were formed to investigate the matter. 

The police have also gathered CCTV footage in the region and took three persons into custody. The accused was one among them and confessed to the crime after being grilled by the police.

The accused has been sent to judicial custody. Karnataka’s Sirivara town was tense following the violation of the statue of the erstwhile ruler of Mysuru, Tipu Sultan on January 31.

The statue of Tipu Sultan was found garlanded with slippers in the wee hours of Wednesday and the people came to know about it in the morning, leading to widespread anger. A large number of people have come out in the open condemning the incident and are staging a protest at the Tipu Circle. They had also blocked the road and torched tyres at the protest site, demanding immediate arrest of the people behind the vandalism. Sirivara police have registered a case in this regard.