Tamil Nadu: Saffron flag on C N Annadurai statue act of mentally unstable man, say cops

KANYAKUMARI: Tense moments prevailed at the Kuzhithurai junction on the Nagercoil - Thiruvananthapuram NH after a saffron flag was found tied to the railing atop the pedestal bearing the statue of former chief minister C N Annadurai. Though the incident was seen as a saffronisation attempt by the right wing, preliminary inquiry by the police revealed that it was an act of a mentally unstable man.
CCTV footage from a shop shows the elderly dhoti-clad man climbing the steps leading to the statue with a piece of cloth in his hand at 12.03 pm on July 27.The lower portion of the flag is then seen hanging from the railing and the man climbing down. Someone clicked a picture of the same and shared it in social media. It is learnt that the man who carries a sack with trash used to collect bright colour or shining cloth from trash and use it to ‘decorate’ odd spots including street lights with it. The police cleared the piece of cloth and some trash that the man left.
On Thursday morning, DMK west district secretary and Padmanabhapuram MLA T Mano Thangaraj came to the spot to protest. After the police explained the incident, the protest was suspended. He met the Kanyakumari SP and sought a probe to ascertain if it was a saffronisation attempt as on the statues of Periyar and MGR in Coimbatore and Pondicherry. Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, PMK founder S Ramadoss, MDMK general secretary Vaiko and AMMK general secretary TTV Dinakaran strongly condemned the act.