Tamil Nadu - Salem

30 held for targeting churches, statues

SALEM: Thirty persons, including a few suspected to be cadres of Hindutva outfits, were arrested in connection with incidents in which churches and statues of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus were targeted at various places in the western zone of the State in the past one month, said its IG of Police Pramod Kumar.

After holding discussions on security for churches with senior officials here on Monday, the IG pointed out that 10 incidents, including the ones near Thali in Krishnagiri district and in Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district, had taken place.

A majority of those arrested were “miscreants” and attached to no particular faith or group. They all had been remanded to custody.

“We have identified the man behind the Mettupalayam case, which appears to be the fallout of personal enmity. Those involved in the incident in which the statues of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus were found broken on the campus of a school in Madagondapalli near Thali will be arrested shortly. We have identified the culprits in this case too,” he said.

To a query whether the involvement of any religious outfit from Karnataka was suspected in the Thali incident, since it is close to that State, the IG said he could not divulge more details. However, security along the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had been increased to check movement of `undesirable’ elements.

Issuing a stern warning to those who would disrupt communal harmony in the zone, which shares borders with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, Mr. Pramod Kumar said special security had been provided to all big churches in the districts.

“We have asked our station officers to collect details of the number of churches and statues of Mother Mary and Jesus falling under their respective jurisdictions and chalk out a foolproof security scheme with the cooperation of the locals,” he said.

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