Bharat Sena functionary says he desecrated Periyar statue in Coimbatore, outfit leaders hand him over to police

COIMBATORE: Bharat Sena leaders in Coimbatore handed over a functionary of the outfit to the city police for desecration of the statue of late social activist Periyar E V Ramasamy at Sundarapuram in the early hours of Friday morning.
The out functionary, M Arun Krishnan, 21, of Podanur, told the police that he had poured saffron paint on the statue to condemn a derogatory content about Kanda Sashti Kavacham posted by the YouTube channel Karuppar Koottam.
Bharat Sena district general secretary Rudra Muthu told TOI that the leaders of the Hindu outfit had not been aware of the incident. “We came to know about it when Arun Krishnan contacted us over phone and told us. So, we handed him over to Podanur police officials,” said Rudra Muthu.
Arun is the south district organiser of Bharat Sena in Coimbatore. He had pursued ITI and worked in a private industrial sector.
Police commissioner Sumit Sharan said a team of police officials had begun interrogation with Arun. “We can confirm the arrest of the functionary later,” said Sumit Sharan.
On Friday, the Periyar statue was found desecrated. Following the incident, tension gripped in the area with Periyarists demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
Members from Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and Thantahi Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) staged a protest demanding that the cops take immediate action.
Deputy commissioner of police (law & order) G Stalin visited the spot and assured them that appropriate action would be taken against the miscreants.
Police officials said that following the arrest of YouTuber Surendran in connection with the derogatory remarks about Kanda Sashti Kavacham on Thursday, the city police deployed police personnel at six statues of Periyar and three statues of B R Ambedkar in the city. The desecration of the statue happened when two cops, who were deployed at the Periyar statue at Sundarapuram, went to attend nature’s call.
The Kuniyamuthur police collected CCTV footages from the commercial establishments and registered an FIR.
DMK president M K Stalin, PMK chief Ramadoss and other political leaders condemned the desecration of the f Periyar statue.