Stunt choreographer Kanal Kannan arrested for his provocative speech

Popular stunt choreographer Kanal Kannan has been booked by the Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu police for allegedly making a provocative statement on demolishing the statue of Dravidian leader Thanthai Periyar. He was arrested in Puducherry today. It is said that Kanal Kannan had gone into hiding fearing arrest, but was eventually tracked down and arrested in the Union Territory today. He has been booked under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), and 505 (1) (b) (causing fear or alarm to the public) of the Indian Penal Code.

Kanal Kannan, a functionary of the right-wing outfit Hindu Munnani, had made a provocative speech at a gathering in Maduravoyal, Chennai earlier this month. During the speech he had stated that the Sri Ranganathar temple in Trichy is visited by hordes of devotees every day. But right in front of the temple is the statue of Periyar, who claimed that god did not exist. The day we break that statue is when there will be an uprising of Hindus. The stunt choreographer had also stated that the world was being overtaken from people of other faiths through religious conversions.

The video of the speech, which was shared by members of the group, has drawn widespread condemnation and political outfits had sought strict action against the choreographer. Cadres of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam had lodged a complaint with the Chennai DGP seeking his arrest as his volatile speech was said to create social unrest. While Kanal Kannan had sought anticipatory bail plea in this regard at the district court, it was rejected on Thursday.

Kanal Kannan has worked in a number of films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. He has choreographed stunts for some of the top actors in the industry, including Ajith, Vijay, Arjun and Sarathkumar.