Tension that prevailed near Kaliyakkavilai bus stand over relocation of freedom fighter Chidambara Nadar’s statue was defused by the timely intervention of police officials on Saturday.
The life-size bronze statue of Chidambara Nadar at the entrance of Kaliyakkavilai bus stand and the statue of Kavimani Desika Vinayakam Pillai in Suchindram commissioned by the State government were facing relocation as per the order of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, in an order of 2014, directed the government to relocate the statues from the National Highway. But these statues were commissioned in 2013, claimed V. Asokan Solomon, Kanyakumari West District Congress Committee (KWDCC) president.
As rumours of shifting were agog from the morning, scores of Congress cadres thronged the area and started raising slogans against the government.
When the situation became tense, Thuckalay Assistant Superintendent of Police Vikrant Patil rushed to the spot with police force and defused the situation.
Mr. Patil held talks with the KWDCC president and appealed to the cadres to disperse. Mr. Patil allowed three to four cadres to stay near the statue. In the meantime, he gave three days time for the KWDCC to meet the authorities concerned in Chennai to get their nod for maintaining status quo.
Meanwhile, Kavimani Desika Vinayakam Pillai statue on the Kanyakumari National Highway in Suchindram was removed on Saturday without any resistance. Official sources here said that the statue would be installed inside the office of Suchindram VAO soon. Public Works Department had already started the construction work to install the statue, the sources said.
