RAMANATHAPURAM: Thirty villagers from Oruvanenthal in Ramanathapuram district were booked by Elanjemboor police on Monday for attempting to set a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and a woman police constable on fire, by pouring kerosene on them.
The officials had been trying to seal a statue of Mutharamalinga Thevar, illegally erected by the villagers on government land without permission, when the incident occurred.
Police said the statue had been erected in May.
On learning of it, revenue officials and police had covered the statue with a metal sheet and locked the sheet. However, on Saturday, the villagers allegedly removed the lock and the sheet.
The matter was taken to the notice of the revenue department and police and, on Monday, the Oruvanenthal VAO Saranya and Kadaladi police constable Tamil Selvi went to the spot and tried to cover the statue and lock the sheet in the presence of the Kadaladi tahsildar.
Agitated by this, the villagers resorted to violence, police said.
Preventing the officials from covering the statue, they allegedly started pelting them with stones before dousing the VAO and constable in kerosene to set them ablaze.
However, another woman constable on the spot managed to thwart the alleged murder attempt, sources said.
Following this, two cases were registered against at least 30 villagers based on two separate complaints filed by the VAO and constable. The villagers were booked on Monday night under Sections 147, 353, 336, 307, 341 of the Indian Penal Code.