Tamil Nadu

Man held for setting temple on fire

Mettuppalayam: Coimbatore Rural Police on Thursday arrested a 50-year-old man on charges of setting a road-side temple on Mettuppalayam – Sirumugai road on fire in the small hours.

On Thursday morning thatched structures and fencing of a roadside Muniappan temple was damaged in a fire that broke out in the small hours.

This led to tension and the activists of various Hindu fronts started gathering in large numbers raising slogans seeking action against those responsible for the accident. They pointed out that it was the second incident within a week.

Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore Rural District, G. Karthikeyan, was camping there and a huge reinforcement of police personnel, led by Additional Superintendent of Police, K. Rajendran, has been deployed.

Based on eyewitness accounts, the police secured Srinivasan Parthasarathy (50) of Mylapore, Chennai. The eyewitness accounts said that the person was seen sleeping near the temple previous night.

He was taken into custody on suspicion and during the questioning the man, suspected to be mentally-deranged, had reportedly stated that “he had set the thatched fencing on fire to help the deity tide over the early morning chillness”.

The police have stepped up security for places of worship of all communities. The authorities in charge of places of worship have been asked to remove all inflammable materials from them.

On Monday, Sidhi Vinayakar temple at Swatandirapuram was damaged in a fire accident. The officials said a possible electrical short circuit would have been the reason. The police were investigating the case.

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