TIRUCHY: Three HR and CE employees were arrested over a clash at Srirangam Aranganathaswamy temple between a group of devotees from Andhra Pradesh and a few employees of the department on Tuesday. The incident left five people injured.
Those injured includes three temple security personnel B Selvakumar, N Vignesh and M Barath, and two Sabarimala pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh — Chenna Rao and Katla Ramu. The clash occurred near the sanctum sanctorum when the devotees from AP tried to push their way to the sanctum sanctorum for darshan.
Sources from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department said a group of 34 devotees had arrived at the Srirangam temple around 7 am and was waiting in a queue in the Gayatri Mandapam, outside the sanctum sanctorum.” The queue moved slowly due to the heavy footfall of devotees as it was the first day of Vaikunta Ekadasi, an annual festival in the temple,” they said.
A senior official from the HR and CE said as the group knocked the temple hundi at the Gayatri Mandapam, temple security personnel intervened, and subsequently, they were assaulted by the group. “Claiming to have been assaulted, the devotees also staged a sit-in for a brief time” he added.
Official sources denied any assualts from the HR and CE employees. Commenting on the video clip that shows a devotee bleeding from his nose after the clash, a senior official said, “It could have happened due to the commotion among the devotees.”
Police said, based on the complaint filed by Chandarao Chanda, all three HR and CE staff were arrested. Meanwhile, HR&CE department lodged a police complaint in which they demanded action against the group of devotees who assaulted their staff. Before the arrest the injured staff underwent treatment at Srirangam government hospital. The group of devotees were not traceable after the incident.