The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Vinayaka idols immersion peaceful, thanks to security

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 04, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vinayaka idols immersion peaceful, thanks to security

Staff Reporter

Police say processionists followed designated points and routes

VIGIL UP: A policeman watching the immersion of a Vinayaka idol at Foreshore Estate in the city on Sunday. — PHOTO: S. R. Raghunathan.

CHENNAI : The Vinayaka idols immersion rally passed off peacefully in the city on Sunday.

Various Hindu outfits began taking out the idols, numbering over 1,000, in varying colours and height, along the specified routes for immersion since 7 a.m. from six places earmarked by the police.

The city police deployed adequate police protection at all the vantage points and sensitive routes including Triplicane district.

Neither a scorching sun in the forenoon nor a passing drizzle towards the evening could keep away the crowds that accompanied the procession.

The Hindu Munnani leader Ramagopalan, R Kumararaja (Siva Sena), Hindu Makkal Katchi (S V Sridharan group) and Arjun Sampath (Hindu Makkal Katchi) participated in the rally with their volunteers. The immersion ceremony was held amidst singing of devotional songs and dancing.

The idols were transported to the immersion site in lorries and other modes of transport.

Senior officers monitored the movement of the idols in the respective districts and ensured that there was no untoward incident.

Commissioner of Police Letika Saran said that all the idols taken in procession from various points were immersed only at the designated places. By and large, the event was peaceful, she said.

Held, released

Later in the evening, when the Hindu Munnani leader Ramagopalan and 40 others made an attempt to take out a procession with the Vinayaka idols on the Triplicane High Road, they were arrested near Ratna Café-Bharati Salai junction. After shouting slogans for some time demanding police permission to take out the procession via the Ice House, they courted arrest. They were later released, police added.

A few idols taken out in the procession in Mylapore police station limits, which had ornamental glass pieces glued to the structures, were stopped by police. Though organisers claimed that the glass pieces were nothing but decorative add-ons, the police booked a case against them for violating norms.

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