Tamil Nadu cops arrest godman for trying to place footwear on collector’s head in ‘blessing’

SALEM: A 57-year-old man created a flutter at the Salem collectorate on Monday when he approached the district collector with a chappal in his hand during the weekly grievances redressal meeting.


The man identified as Arumugam from

Kanchanachampatti

near

Rasipuram

managed to get close to collector

Rohini Ramdas Bhajibhakare

who was collecting petitions from the public along with district revenue officer R Sukumaran. Clad in a safari, Arumugam was in the queue and got into the meeting hall in the guise of a petitioner. Once inside, he removed one of his chappals and walked towards the collector. Caught by surprise, the public stopped him before he could reach the officer. “He tried to wriggle away and charged ahead with the chappal in his hand. But collectorate staff overpowered him,’’ said a police officer. The man was also beaten by the public there.

Within moments, police personnel on duty in the collectorate heard the commotion and rushed inside. Police said Arumugam refused to leave the hall even after he was warned of severe action. “He attempted to get near other officials in the meeting hall. We had to drag him out,” police said. Arumugam was taken to the Salem town police station where he initially claimed he was a doctor. “But after a few minutes, he said he was a siddhar (godman) and placing the chappal on the head of the devotees was his way of blessing them,’’ the police officer said.

However, police said he was neither of the two. “Given the highly contradictory replies Arumugam is giving, we suspect that he is mentally imbalanced,’’ police said. Police said they are inquiring to find out about his family members and inform them. Police said they would book a case on him after the inquiry.

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