Palani panchamirtham row: Filmmaker Mohan G held, left out on bail; judge says arrest made in haste

TIRUCHY: The district Cyber Crime Police on Tuesday arrested Tamil film director Mohan G in Chennai for his provocative and ‘misleading’ statement on Palani Panchamirtham, was produced before the court and later let him out on bail on his own bond in the late evening.

According to police, the director Mohan G had commented that panchamirtham served in the Palani Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani temple has also used adulterated ghee. He also stated that a certain substance that leads to impotency was used mixed in the Panchamirtham and asked the government to stop suppressing the Hindus.

The video of the film-maker went viral and Kaviyarsu, the Manager of Samayapuram Arulmigu Mariamman temple lodged a complaint against the director Mohan. The manager of the temple alleged that his comments had created a furore among the devotees. He alleged that Mohan had deliberately made false statements against the Panchamirtham, the prasadam distributed in the Palani temple.

Based on the complaint, the Samayapuram police registered a case against the director Mohan under five sections pertaining to fabricating false evidence, committing an offence against the state government, provoking people and arresting him at his house in Chennai.

The director Mohan G was later brought to Tiruchy and was produced before the Judicial Magistrate court. The Magistrate (in-charge) KR Balaji heard the case and released Mohan on bail on his own bond. The Magistrate observed that he had not been given time to appear before the police and was arrested in haste.