Lorry rams into Periyar statue in Vellore, DMK members stage protest

The workers of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK)also were agitated over the incident.  A K. Rajadas, a local DK leader, told IANS: "We don't think that these are freak accidents. For the past few weeks, the statues of Thanthai Periyar across Tamil Nadu are being damaged or desecrated and we feel that there is a concerted effort behind this to discredit him and his ideology which is directed against the upper class and for the downtrodden. 

 

"We want a thorough investigation into the case to unearth whether any planning was done and if so who was behind this. We don't believe the police version and let a proper investigation be conducted and then let us see."

 

In a related development, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) workers conducted a protest march towards the Villupuram police station. M . Ramakrishnan, president of TPDK while speaking to IANS said: "There are some ulterior motives behind the continues attacks on the statutes of Thanthai Periyar and it is a shame that these incidents are happening while a political party like DMK is in power in Tamil Nadu. Police have to act strongly and conduct an investigation without any bias and preconceptions."