Burnt Tyres in Front of Temples Lead to Tension in Coimbatore
Image Courtesy: ANI
Coimbatore: Burning tyres found in front of three temples here on Saturday led to tense moments with workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and pro-Hindu outfits demanding action against the culprits, police said.
The incidents came a day after a statue of social reformer E V Ramasami 'Periyar' was found daubed with saffron hued paint here. A youth from a pro-Hindu outfit, Bharat Sena, had surrendered and arrested, according to the police.
After the incident came to light, workers of DMK, MDMK and VCK protested demanding action and parties, including the ruling AIADMK and main opposition DMK, strongly condemned the desecration. The desecrated statue, unveiled in 1995, was one of the three statues of the reformer in the city
On Saturday, police said it acted on a complaint from locals, scanned CCTV footage and found a man taking an old tyre lying outside a nearby garage early this morning and setting it on fire in front of the Makaliamman temple.
As the news spread, workers from BJP, Hindu Munnani, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other pro-Hindu outfits rushed to the area and demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants.
The outfits warned of an agitation if the police failed to arrest the culprits within 24 hours.
A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area.
Reacting to the incident, BJP Tamil Nadu Vice-president, Vanati Srinivasan urged the City police commissioner to take action against the miscreants.
In the second incident, a burning tyre was found in front of the Vinayakar temple near the railway station and another, at the Selvavinayakar shrine at Nellampalayam area, police said.
BJP Coimbatore district President, R Nandakumar alleged that the police have failed to arrest those behind the attack on leaders of pro-Hindu organisations in the last couple of years.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, G Stalin said investigation is on to ascertain and bring to book those who attempted to vandalise Maakaliamman temple and Vinayagar temple.
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