Sacred threads of 10 people were cut off by a group of eight periyar supporters in Triplicane near Chennai on Wednesday morning, said police. A senior officer said the incident happened at around 7 am within the limits of Ice House police station.
“All the 10 were either bare chested or were returning from a temple nearby. The men had raised slogans praising Periyar. Police teams are searching for the gang now,” the officer said.
The incident follows a statement by BJP national secretary H Raja on Tuesday wherein he threatened to destroy statues of Periyar in Tamil Nadu, like Lenin’s in Tripura.
Following his statement, a Periyar statue was vandalised in Vellore on Tuesday night and petrol bombs were hurled at a BJP office in Coimbatore in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Two of the ten accused that Chennai Police are on the lookout for.