Miscreants deface Karunanidhi's statue in Salem
According to an official source, it was the visitors to the park who first found the statue defaced with black paint on Tuesday morning and alerted police.
A team of police, headed by assistant commissioner K M Aswini, visited the spot immediately and initiated an inquiry into the incident. Aswini said they were reviewing CCTV footage collected from the locality to zero in on the suspects.
The CPM, meanwhile, condemned the act and urged police to nab the miscreants who defaced the statue of Karunanidhi and punish them.
The party also sought police to probe the possible intention to disrupt law and order with the act.
Mutharasan, state CPI secretary, said the statue of esteemed Tamil scholar Kalaignar, who was greatly revered by the people of Tamil Nadu, was unveiled at Anna Park just a year ago. "We condemn the act (of defiling the statue)."
He said the Sangh Parivar, known for saffronising politics in recent years, was implicated in similar acts in the state in the past. "After saffronising the statue of Valluvar, who authored the world-renowned Thirukkural, and vandalizing the statues of prominent leaders like Periyar, Ambedkar and MGR, they now seem to be targeting the statue of Kalaignar. This has caused significant unrest in Tamil Nadu and is seen as a political maneuver.
This is nothing but a lowly political conspiracy."
He called on the state govt to apprehend everyone responsible for the act and ensure stringent action against them.
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