Coimbatore : Tension prevailed in Sundarapuram in the city Friday for some time, when the people noticed the statue of social reformer, E V Ramaswamy, popularly known as ‘Periyar” painted with saffron colour.

The full size statue on Pollachi road was one of the three main statues installed in the city twenty five years ago.

Supporters of Periyar, including workers from Dravidar Kazhagam, DMK, MDMK, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal rushed to the spot and sought
the arrest of the miscreants behind the incident.

The activists warned to intensify the agitation if such crimes were repeated and cleaned the statue. Police managed to disperse them on the assurance to bring the culprits to the book.

The Periyar supporters suspect that this could be the retaliation for an incident,
where a YouTube channel Karuppar Kootam’s
derogatory remaks against Kandhashathi Kavazham, which was strongly condemned by BJP and various Hindu outfits.

Meanwhile, CPI district secretary, V S Sundaram said that defacing the statue of Periyar was not not acceptable and urged police to take immediate action and arrested the ‘anti-social elements.

Similarly, DMK MLA, N Karthik also condemned the incident and said that this could be an attempt to destroy peace in Tamil Nadu.