Two men were arrested at Chellankuppam, near Keelpennathur, in Tiruvannamalai on Sunday for promoting enmity between two communities in the village.
The police said K. Thangarasu, 30, of a Scheduled Caste, and R. Senthamizh, 33, of the Vanniyar community, were arrested after two sections of the residents clashed a day before over allowing Dalits to enter the Amman temple in the village.
Initial inquiries revealed that Thangarasu and Senthamizh had a spat over the issue on the social media last week. On Saturday, Senthamizh, who works in a private company in Chennai, returned to his village and picked a quarrel with Thangarasu. In the heat of the moment, Senthamizh allegedly roughed up Thangarasu, who fled the spot. A few hours later, Thangarasu came with a dozen friends to the house of Senthamizh, which is located near the temple.
As he did not find Senthamizh in his house, Thangarasu allegedly abused his mother R. Rajathi, 65, and roughed up a few residents in the neighbourhood. Then the gang escaped. The incident happened around 2.30 p.m. As villagers gathered in the area, the Vettavalam police were alerted. A 25-member police team, led by K. Gunasekaran, Deputy SP (Tiruvannamalai), rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
The police said the Amman temple was built nearly three decades ago with funds mobilised by all residents. In April, residents organised consecration for the temple after 13 years. Another temple near the lake is under construction by a section of Dalits, the police said.
Based on complaints from both sides, the police arrested the duo under Section 505(1) C (inciting someone to commit offence against another community) of the IPC. A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the village. The Tiruvannamalai RDO has organised peace talks between the two communities, the police said.
