Coimbatore: Senior BJP leader and chairman of the Coir Board C P Radhakrishnan stoked a fresh controversy by alleging that police were involved in the Coimbatore riots of 1997 that followed the murder of traffic police constable R Selvaraj.Radhakrishnan represented the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency for two terms between 1998 and 2004. He said the BJP and Hindu outfits did not expose the police role in the riots all along.Addressing among the Hindu Munnani workers at Theppakulam ground here on Monday, Radhakrishnan said traffic police constable Selvaraj had stopped three people who were travelling in a two -wheeler and did not allow the triple ride. So, he was brutally murdered in the day light in November 1997. “All that followed were not done by BJP or Hindu Munnani. It was all done by police personnel who could not bear the murder of Selvaraj. But we did not expose the involvement of the police at any situation. But Hindutva people who were not involving in any riots, were spending their days behind the bars. Exposing the police is equal to betraying the nation,” said Radhakrishnan.Later, he met reporters and said that Ganesha Chathurthi festival has been indicating that Tamil Nadu state returning to its spiritual feelings. Some people were telling that Tamil Nadu is the land of Periyar and atheists. But this is a spiritual land. “Unidentified people desecrated the statue of Periyar at Dharapuram in Tirupur district. BJP is not having any faith on such dishonorable activities. The greatness of the saffron is that it opposes ideas with ideas. We won’t take the violence in our hands. At the same time, we won’t bend to violence,” said Radhakrishnan.

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