Two Hindu Munnani workers charged under Goondas Act for defacing Periyar statue

The two had vandalised the statue by smearing it with saffron powder and garlanding it with slippers on January 8 and have been lodged in a jail in Coimbatore since.

Two Hindu Munnani workers arrested for defacing Periyar statue in Coimbatore
Two Hindu Munnani workers arrested for defacing Periyar statue in Coimbatore
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Two Hindu Munnani workers arrested on the charge of defacing a statue of social reformer and founder of the Dravidian movement, ’Periyar' E V Ramaswamy or Thanthai Periyar in Coimbatore were detained under the Goondas Act, police said on Tuesday, January 18. The two had vandalised the statue by smearing it with saffron powder and garlanding it with slippers on January 8 and been lodged in jail in Coimbatore since.

Considering the law and order problem likely to arise due to this, the City Police Commissioner Pradip Kumar issued a detention order, the police said. The order was served on the duo early today, they said.

The duo, Arun Karthik (26) and V. Mohanraj (28) of Vellalore were arrested on January 11 after the face of a statute of Periyar at Vellalore in Coimbatore was found smeared with saffron powder and garlanded with slippers.

The incident took place on January 9 and there were widespread protests across the state with the Dravidar Kazhakam (DK) and Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) leading the charge.

There were demands from across the state to give befitting punishment to the perpetrators of the crime and the police arrested the duo on January 11 and were remanded in judicial custody at the Coimbatore central prison.

It may be noted that there were similar incidents of vandalising the statues of Periyar across Tamil Nadu with the Hindu Munnani workers in most cases getting arrested for the act.

In April 2021, there was tension in Coimbatore and surrounding areas after an attack on a Hindu Munnani leader, S Ramakrishnan. Ramakrishnan was attacked by two unidentified men. He was intercepted while he was returning home and hit on the head with an iron rod causing serious injuries. The two motorcycle borne assailants fled after local people rushed to the spot.

With PTI and IANS inputs

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