THANJAVUR: Tension was triggered in Pillaiyarpatti village near Thanjavur on Monday after the desecration of a statue of Tamil saint-poet Tiruvalluvar by miscreants who wrapped its eyes with black cloth and smeared its face with cow dung and black liquid on Sunday night.
People of Tiruvalluvar Nagar where the statue is located woke up on Monday morning and saw, to their dismay, the disfigured statue. They immediately informed Tamil University police, who rushed to the spot, cleaned the statue and adorned it with a gar-land.
People in the area staged a demonstration condemning the incident and demanded the immediate arrest of the miscreants.
The cement statue was installed in 2005 with the efforts made by Thenninthiya Valluvar Sangam and residents of Thiruvalluvar street. The then district collector of Thanjavur Veera Shanmugha Moni had unveiled the statue.
“We, people in this area, garland the statue on Tiruvalluvar Day every year. We hold the saint in high esteem, who is above caste, creed, colour, religion and countries. He belongs to the whole world and his Tirukkural is considered as a book for the humanity. It is unfortunate that such disgrace was done to the saint's statue and those who did it should be arrested immediately and punished. We should not impose caste or religion on him. He belongs to humanity,” a cross-section of people on Tiruvalluvar street
said.
Top police officers V. Varadaraju, IG, central zone, Tiruchy, J. Loganathan, DIG of police, Thanjavur range and J. Maheswaran, SP, Thanjavur visited the spot. People demanded security for the statue.
Four special teams have been formed to nab the culprits involved in the denigration to Ayyan Tiruvalluvar statue at Pillaiyarpatti near Thanjavur, said V. Varadaraju, Inspector general of police, central zone, Tiruchy, here on Monday.
He told presspersons that a case has been registered following a complaint lodged by Kannan (43), son of Swaminathan, belonging to Tiruvalluvar Nagar, Pillaiyarpatti under four sections of IPC.
“We have registered cases under section 153 (punishment for wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153(A) and 153 (A) (B) (punish person who indulge in wanton vilification or attacks upon religion, race etc) and 504 (punishment for intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace),” the IG said. .
“The guilty will undergo a punishment of maximum three years of rigorous imprisonment under these sections,” said Varadaraju.
He said that a CCTV footage available to the police revealed that a single person in middle age attired in dhoti and shirt might have done this after 11 p.m.”We are investigating and soon will nab the culprit” he said.
The four teams will work under Seetharaman, DSP of Vallam police station and report to SP and DIG. He said that security has been provided to a temple being built for Tiruvalluvar at Saliyamangalam near Ammapettai following the incident.
Asked about whether there was a CCTV camera near the statue or from any house nearby, the IG said that it was on the approach road to the statue and could not reveal details about CCTV footage as it would hamper the investigation. “We are at it and we will catch the culprit soon,” he said.
J. Loganathan, DIG of police, Thanjavur range and J. Maheswaran, SP, Thanjavur were present at the press conference here.
