The spark triggered by razing down of Lenin’s statue in Tripura has spread across the country with hooligans disfiguring the statues of Dravidian icon Periyar, Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Dalit icon BR Ambedkar during the last 24 hours.

With situation threatening to go out of hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president Amit shah have condemned the incidents and warned of strict actions against the culprits. The Home Ministry has also issued an advisory which says that the District Magistrates and the Superintendents of Police will be “personally responsible” for such incidents of vandalism.

In Tamil Nadu, some unidentified elements vandalised a statue of Dravida Kazhakam founder EV Ramasamy Naicker, popularly known as Periyar, at Thiruppattur in Vellore district late on Tuesday.

According to sources in Tamil Nadu Intelligence wing, the attack on the Periyar’s statue took place following a ‘provocative’ social media posting by H Raja, the BJP’s national secretary. Security has been beefed up around all statues of Periyar in Tamil Nadu following the incident.

“Today it was Lenin’s statue in Tripura. Tomorrow it will be the statue of Ramasamy Naicker who is a casteist,” Raja had posted in his social media page. But the BJP leader claimed that it was done without his knowledge or concurrence by the group administrator. The post was deleted from the site following the attack on the statue. There was widespread condemnation on the attack

from all non-BJP parties and Tamil nationalists alike. MK Stalin, DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly called for the arrest of Raja under Goonda’s Act for the incident.

“Raja has been expressing views with the intention of inciting violence and he should be arrested under the Goonda’s Act,” Stalin told reporters at Chennai.

Periyar is an icon for the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, be it the DMK or the AIADMK. His pictures are displayed prominently by these parties during all public functions.

The most vitriolic reaction came from Vaiko, leader of the MDMK who warned that he would chop off the hands of anyone touching Naicker’s statues with evil intentions.

Two persons have been arrested by police on Wednesday following a complaint lodged by the Dravida Kazhakam office-bearers of Vellore.

In South Kolkata, a band of Left radicals allegedly from prestigious Jadavpur University on Wednesday vandalised Shyama Prasad Mukherjee statue triggering major protest by the BJP. Mukherjee was elected to Parliament from South Kolkata constituency.

A group of seven, who identified them as “Radicals”, mounted the platform broke part of the statue and smeared it in black but were caught by the locals and handed over to police, sources said.

They Left a poster stating “this is the revenge for whatever was done in Tripura”. Police immediately swung into action arresting the culprits even as a local Trinamool MLA and State Power Minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee rushed to the spot with Kolkata Municipal Corporation Chairperson Mala Roy reportedly to preempt clashes between BJP and Trinamool supporters some of who had gathered at the area, sources said.

In Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, miscreants vandalised Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue following members of the Dalit community blocked traffic in Mawana. The district administration pacified the protesters by assuring them that it would soon install a new statue of the Dalit icon.

Meanwhile, taking a serious view of the desecration of statues in various parts of the country, the Prime Minister strongly condemned the reported incidents of vandalism and said stern action will be taken against those found guilty. The Prime Minister spoke to the Home Minister in this regard and expressed his strong disapproval of such incidents.

BJP president Amit Shah also warned the BJP workers in Tripura and Tamil Nadu from indulging in vandalisation of statues. “I have spoken to the party units in both Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Any person associated with the BJP found to be involved with destroying any statue will face severe action from the party. The BJP will always remain committed to ideals of openness and constructive politics through which we can positively impact people’s lives as well as build a New India,” tweeted the BJP president

The Home Ministry also issued a second advisory, second in the day, holding the District Magistrates and the Superintendents of Police “personally responsible” for such incidents of vandalism. The advisory came a few hours after the Ministry, in its first advisory, told all States and Union Territories that incidents of toppling and damaging of statues must be checked immediately and stern action should be taken to prevent such incidents.

“The DMs and the SPs will be personally held responsible for any such incidents of vandalism of statues,” a Home Ministry official said, quoting the second advisory.

The Home Minister has appealed to political parties to ensure that those found desecrating statues are dealt with strictly. “I appeal to everyone, all parties that anyone indulging in such acts should be dealt with strictly. These incidents can never be justified,” Rajnath told reporters outside Parliament.