A mob claiming to be ‘sanitation workers’ barged into the residence of popular YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A Shankar, a critic of the ruling DMK, and vandalised with human excreta and drainage waste in the city on Monday.
At the time of the incident, Shankar was away and only his mother, A Kamala, was at home. The mob, which threatened her, dumped human waste and drainage water all over the house, located in the Kilpauk area.
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Shankar shared pictures of his house being ransacked and a video call made by one of the trespassers by snatching his mother’s mobile phone.
According to police, the trespassers, who had come sporting the uniform of conservancy workers, were offended by the alleged derogatory remarks of Shankar in one of his recent videos posted on YouTube.
Police personnel were deployed at his residence to prevent further untoward incidents. In a post on ‘X’, Shankar had said that the police had advised him not to land at his house in view of the prevailing situation.
Narrating the development to the media, Kamala said, “The gang broke open the back door and hurled abuses and threatened me. They poured drainage water, brought in three buckets, all over the house ransacked flower pots. They also snatched my mobile phone. Initially, I tried to explain that my son had spoken in support of them. But, they would not listen. Though they were abusive, they did not harm me. We do not know who is behind this.”
She added that the police had recovered my mobile phone from the trespassers and handed it to me.
A whistle-blower-turned-YouTuber with a huge following, Shankar, a former constable with the Vigilance Department, is a strong critic of the DMK government of MK Stalin.
Recently, he was arrested and slapped with many cases from across the state for his alleged derogatory remarks on women police personnel. He secured bail from the Supreme Court which also clubbed all the cases registered against him.
Shankar had charged the prison authorities with subjecting him to physical torture resulting in a fracture in his hand.
The opposition parties have condemned the incident and blamed the government for targeting Shankar. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswamy, BJP state president K Annamalai and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president, actor Vijay, have expressed solidarity with Shankar.
Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram had condemned the attack on Shankar’s residence and urged the police to bring to book the culprits so that public confidence is not eroded.
