Two trucks transporting temple elephants of Sri Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannaragudi, and Sri Panchanadeeswara Swamy Devasthanam, Thiruvaiyaru, to the rejuvenation camp at Thekkampatti in Coimbatore district were detained at the Thuvakudi police station here on Thursday for about half an hour following a face-off between workers of National Highways Authority of India toll plaza and employees of HR and CE department at Asoor near here over payment of toll fee.
While HR & CE employees insisted that they did not have to pay the toll fee for transporting the temple elephants, the staff at the toll plaza demanded authorisation letter from appropriate authorities for using private vehicles for the purpose. With the two groups coming to blows, Thuvakudi police intervened to restore order. Both lorries with the elephants on board were taken to the Thuvakudi police station subsequently.
The police team pacified both sides after accepting a complaint from the staff of NHAI Toll Plaza. Both sides eventually decided not to get any FIR registered, Thuvakudi Station Inspector Alagammal said. The elephants later left for the rejuvenation camp. Meanwhile, the temple elephants of Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Rockfort Sri Thayumanaswamy Temple left for the camp in the morning.