Periyar statue smeared with saffron paint in Coimbatore; Man Held

What you need to know about the case?

• A statue of Dravidian legend E V R Periyar in Coimbatore was smeared with “saffron-coloured liquid” on Friday morning by a cadre of a little-known Hindu outfit, in the second attack on the busts of the social reformer since the beginning of this year.
• The statue located in Sundarapuram in Coimbatore was found defaced with the “saffron-coloured liquid” at around 6 am on Friday, leading to tension in the area. Hours after the incident came to light, Arun Krishnan, District Organiser of Bharat Sena, surrendered before the police claiming responsibility for the incident.
• Statues of Periyar, as he is popularly known as in Tamil Nadu, have been the target of right-wing outfits in the past few years. In fact, the statue was among six busts of the legendary social reformer brought under police protection on Thursday evening following the arrest of a YouTuber who released a video on a song sung in praise of Lord Murugan.

What happened later?

• The youth belonging to a fringe pro-Hindu outfit was arrested after his surrender, the police said. The 21-year old man mentioned in his statement that he smeared the statue with paint to oppose insult to Hindu God Muruga in a Youtube channel “Karuppar Kootam,” they added.
• He was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody, police said in a statement.
• Chief minister K. Palaniswami assured stringent action as per law.

"I have instructed the police to take appropriate action and bring the culprits to book"- he said.

Charges under which the youth was booked:

• A case has been registered against the youth, for fomenting hatred between different groups, disturbing public tranquillity and for provocating with an intent to cause a riot.

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