A YouTuber popular among right-wing Tamil viewers was arrested in Chennai on Monday for allegedly raising funds online purportedly for renovation of temples controlled by the Tamil Nadu government without permission from the authorities concerned, according to the police.
According to police, preliminary investigation showed that besides money collected online, accused Karthick Gopinath, 32, had also received nearly Rs 6 lakh in his personal bank account.
Police said Gopinath has claimed that he was collecting funds for repair and renovation of certain temples “damaged by miscreants”. They said he had raised several lakhs without the knowledge of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments {HRCE) department, the custodian of temples in the state.
In a statement, Avadi police commissionerate said Gopinath’s arrest came on a complaint from the executive officer of a temple in Siruvachur, near Perambalur. It said Gopinath had allegedly “opened a YouTube channel in the name of Ilaya Bharatham and asked public to give money in Milaap fundraising site.in the guise of renovation of statues of sub-temples of Arulmigu Madhura Kaliamman temple without permission from HR&CE department”.
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PremiumThe complainant alleged that Gopinath “wrongfully used this amount for his own purpose”.
Criticising the arrest, state BJP chief K Annamalai, who is said to be close to Gopinath, tweeted, “I request TN Int PSY – OPS (Psychological Operations) division & DMK propaganda forces to leave all these innocents alone, and come straight for me. I’m waiting as a common man.”
The page created by Gopinath on Milaap, “free crowdsourcing” platform, shows Rs 33.28 lakh collected in the name of “Siruvachur temple resurrection”. His appeal for funds mentions that “Siruvachur temple idols have been vandalised by miscreants”.
On its website, Milaap asks people to “raise funds online for medical emergencies and social causes”.
Gopinath has stated in his appeal for funds on the website: “This [vandalism] is done with the idea of discouraging the Hindu way of life and dampening the spirit of temple goers in the vicinity…. Let us help replace the idols, rebuild the temples and rejuvenate the theist spirit of the local community. Let’s join hands for our dharma.”
A senior officer involved with the investigation said while the incident of vandalism is true, Gopinath and his followers were trying to lend it a communal colour. “While they raised several lakhs, claiming that idols were damaged by missionaries and other religious groups, it was done by an individual with serious psychiatric problems. He was a Telugu Brahmin and brother of a temple priest…. The accused has been arrested,” the officer said.
The officer said Gopinath had recently written to the executive officer of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, offering him the money collected for temple renovation. “The executive officer refused to accept it, citing that Gopinath wasn’t supposed to collect it in his own account when the government is the temple’s custodian,” an investigation officer said.
In October 2021, Gopinath had tweeted that he had asked for Rs 10 lakh in one week from followers of his YouTube channel but that “they have given [Rs] 15 lakh in 8 hours”.
Gopinath’s YouTube channel, ‘Ilaya Bharatham’, has more than 2 lakhs followers. His videos, mostly targeting the DMK-led government, attracts thousands of viewers.
