The Chennai Police have arrested a man for allegedly hurling a pair of shoes at a statue of social reformer EV Ramasamy, also known as Periyar, on Anna Salai on Monday, reported India Today. D Jagadessan, who is an advocate, is reportedly a Bharatiya Janata Party supporter.

The incident took place when political leaders were paying tributes to Periyar on his 139th birth anniversary. Jagadessan, who was on a motorcycle, threw his shoes when members of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi were paying tributes. He was caught and handed over to the police.

In a separate incident, unidentified men vandalised a Periyar statue in Tiruppur. They chiselled off a portion from the statue’s head and placed a pair of shoes on it. “Initial probe in Tirupur also hints at the role of some BJP cadres,” an unidentified police officer told The Indian Express. “This is because there were reports from intelligence about a conspiracy by some Hindu fringe groups to create law and order problems in Tamil Nadu.”

State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said strong action would be taken against those responsible as “an insult to Periyar is an insult to Tamils”. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President MK Stalin demanded the arrest of the perpetrators under the National Security Act.

In March, two men were arrested for vandalising a statue of Periyar in Thirupattur near Tamil Nadu’s Vellore.