The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has launched an investigation into the defacing of a Hindi name board at Coimbatore North railway station.

On Sunday (August 2, 2026), the RPF booked two persons under three sections of the Railways Act for disfiguring the name board. According to RPF sources, two men, alleged to be members of the Aathi Thamizhar Peravai, trespassed onto the terrace of the porch through a stair around 1.40 a.m. on Sunday.

Out of the two men, one defaced the station name in Hindi by smearing it with a paint they carried with them while the other photographed the act. Videos and photos of the incident were widely circulated by Sunday morning. They also caused some damage to properties while climbing to the terrace, the sources said.

Station authorities removed the defaced front-facing name board on Sunday morning. An RPF officer, who wished to be anonymous, said that two more boards in Tamil and English, which had been placed on the left and right sides of the porch, were also removed.

“We have identified one of the persons involved in the act from videos. Efforts are on to identify the other and initiate further action against them,” said the RPF officer.

Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, which on Saturday announced a protest on Sunday against the installation of the Hindi board, withdrew the agitation following the removal of the name boards.

The name boards in the three languages were placed atop the porch a few weeks ago as part of the renovation works carried out at the railway station.