The Nagercoil Cyber Crime police on Monday, July 10, arrested stunt master ‘Kanal’ Kannan, over a social media post wherein he had shared a video showing Christian priest dancing with a woman. Kannan who shared the post on June 18 had captioned the video "This is the real culture of foreign religion... Please think about this, converted Hindus and repent".
Kannan is a Tamil actor and stunt choreographer and he worked with many Indian cinema stars including Rajinikanth, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and Aamir Khan. Kannan is also a state president of the Art and Culture wing of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Munnani Organisation - a right-wing organisation that is affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Kannan posted the video in question on June 18 and a case was filed against him on July 1 by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) IT wing member Austin Bennet, a resident from Thittuvilai of Kanniyakumari. Based on his complaint, Nagercoil Cyber Crime Branch police booked him under sections 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 505(2) (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of Indian Penal Code.
Kannan was summoned by the Kanniyakumari police for investigation. On July 10, he appeared for the inquiry at the cyber crime branch office located inside the Superintendent of Police (SP) office premises. Later, he was arrested around 7.30 pm on July 10 and produced before the district magistrate for judicial remand.
His arrest caused unrest among the Hindu Munnani cadres, who opposed the arrest and gathered at the Vadaserry bus stand where they staged a protest. Their protest led to a public disturbance at the bus stand and bus services were halted for sometime before the police reached the spot and dispersed the protesters.