Chennai: An office-bearer of a Hindu outfit has surrendered to the Coimbatore police for defiling the statue of Dravidar Kazhagam founder E V Ramasamy (‘Periyar’) at Sundarapuram in the textile city on Friday.
Hours after the incident, Arun Krishnan, the organiser of the Bharat Sena South District Organiser, surrendered before the police.
Tension gripped the textile city after the incident that occurred at around 5.30 am.
Though most of the saffron paint was washed away in rain, police personnel and supporters of Periyar cleaned the remaining portion after which cops wearing PPE equipment were deployed as security.
Similarly, security was also provided to six more Periyar statues in the city and that of Dr B R Ambedkar as a precautionary measure.
As the news spread, more than 20 cadres of DMK, MDMK, Dravidar Kazhagam and Thanthai Periyar Dravdar Kazhagam (TPDK) gathered in front of the statue and staged a protest demonstration demanding arrest of the culprits.