COIMBATORE: A group of six masked men damaged two idols at a shrine of Ponkaliamman temple at Thalaiyanallur near Sivagiri in

in the early hours of Monday.

Erode

detained three people on suspicion and were on the lookout for others based on CCTV footage from the temple. Police also launched a search for a man who had raised an issue against installing the idols.

The shrine located about 1km from the temple housed idols of forbears of that community.

After the day's rituals, the shrine was locked on Sunday night. On the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the group opened the lock and damaged the idols with hammers. The priest who opened the shrine in the morning found the idols damaged. He alerted the temple authorities who called the police.

Subsequently, members of the community staged a protest near the shrine. They dispersed after the police intervened and assured action. They filed a complaint against Nagaraj from Kottaikattur near Sivagiri and his friends, who had caused an issue earlier.

S Suryamoorthy, one of the temple's representatives, said the shrine was a very old one and was earlier situated close to the road. "We moved the shrine a bit away from the road, renovated it and installed new idols last month. A few members from another community raised an issue and petitioned the collector and revenue officials against this. But officials said we have the rights to install idols and the matter was settled then. Now the people have done this to cause unrest," he said.