Burning tyres found in front of three temples on Saturday in Coimbatore led to tense moments with workers of BJP and fringe pro-Hindu outfits demanding action against the culprits, police said.
The incidents came a day after a statue of social reformer E V Ramasami ‘Periyar’ was found with saffron hued paint here.
Police acted on a complaint from locals, scanned CCTV footage, and found a man taking an old tyre lying outside a nearby garage early this morning and setting it on fire in front of the Makaliamman temple.
He damaged a board kept there and broke a bulb, while a trident in front of the temple was blackened due to the thick smoke from the burning tyre, they said.
Hearing the news, workers from BJP, Hindu Munnani, VHP and other pro-Hindu outfits rushed to the area and demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants.
A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area.
BJP Tamil Nadu Vice-president, Vanati Srinivasan urged the City police commissioner to take action against the miscreants.
In a tweet, she alleged that the trident kept in front of the temple was damaged.
In the second incident, a burning tyre was found in front of the Vinayakar temple near the railway station and another, at the Selvavinayakar shrine at Nellampalayam area, police said.
Further details are being ascertained, they said.
The party workers also rushed to these two areas and demanded action against those responsible, police said.
They dispersed after police assured them that action would be taken.