RANIPET: As many as 2,401 books worth Rs 23.57 lakh published by Agalvilakku and Phoenix, which have been accused of publishing fake books, have been identified at the Ranipet District Central Library, officials said.
Of these, 2,302 books worth Rs 22.53 lakh belong to Agalvilakku Publications, while the remaining 99 books, valued at Rs 1.04 lakh, are from Phoenix Publications.
Sakthivel L, District Library Officer, Ranipet, said the books had been removed from the circulation racks. Further scrutiny of the authors and errors in the books would be carried out based on government directions, he added.
Meanwhile, an inspection of 49 libraries in Vellore district found 984 books published by the two publishers. These included 558 Phoenix books worth Rs 1.02 lakh and 426 Agalvilakku books worth Rs 88,000.
KR Palani, Vellore District Library Officer, said 804 books had been removed from the racks, while steps were being taken to remove the remaining 180.
The controversy erupted in the first week of November after acclaimed Tamil writer Perumal Murugan visited the newly inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore and alleged serious irregularities in its book collection.
