Fomenters of communal violence to be detained under Goondas Act: M K

Chennai, May 12 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today warned that those who foment communal violence by desecrating statues of leaders would be detained under the Goondas Act.

Replying to the demand for grants for Police department, he said the government would come out with a legislation for this purpose and the Bill would be introduced during the current session itself.

He said when the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar was desecrated and recently when the statue of freedom figher Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar was also desecrated in Madurai, the government took immediate steps and ensured that there was no communal clash.

Whenever such statues were desecrated, anti-social elements tried to exploit the situation and create tension between two communities, resulting in communal clash.

To avert this, the government has decided to invoke Goondas Act against such people and bring out a special legislation, he said.

Referring to opposition AIADMK's charge that crime rates had increased after the DMK came to power, Mr Karunanidhi, striking a conciliatory note, said this kind of war of words would not help to address the issues.

Reeling out statistics to drive home the point that the crime rate had come down after the DMK came to power, the Chief Minister said he was not trying to boast that everything was good in DMK regime. ''Only if all of us join hands, the black sheeps could be destroyed'', he said.

However, compared to crime rates in metros like Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai, the number of crimes in Chennai city was low, he claimed.

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