The police in Coimbatore are conducting an intensive investigation after an effigy of Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar was found garlanded with footwear, in an apparent protest against the killing of three Tamils by the Karnataka Forest Department in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary on August 15, 2026.

The effigy was tied onto a warning board of the Coimbatore City Traffic Police at Vilankurichi. A poster attached to the effigy read: “Don’t the three Tamils have the value that a deer has?”

Photos and videos of the effigy were widely circulated via WhatsApp late on Sunday (August 16).

Officials attached to the intelligence wing of the Coimbatore City Police said they were in the efforts to identify the location and the persons who placed the effigy. Further investigation is on.

Published - August 17, 2026 05:46 pm IST