A 57-year old self-proclaimed godman today caused a flutter when he attempted to place his footwear on the head of the Salem District Collector, a strange practice he follows to bless people.
The incident occurred during the weekly grievances day meeting presided over by Collector Rohini Ramadas at the collectorate in Salem, about 160 km from here. As Rohini and other officials were receiving petitions from the public, Arumugham jumped the queue, approached the Collector and attempted to place one of his chappals on her head. She, however, moved sidewards, avoiding contact with the chappal, police said.
Arumugham then tried to repeat the act with District Revenue Officer R Sukumaran before other officials present there took him out and handed him over to police. According to preliminary inquiry, Arumugham, hailing from Kachanachampatti in Rasipuram in Salem district, is a self-proclaimed ‘Chappal Siddhar’. Placing the chappal on the head was his way of blessing devotees, police said adding further investigations were on.
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