VOC was arrested on the charge of sedition on March 12, 1908. A British jailer noticed his hands bleeding from the harsh labour of separating coir and spinning rope in the Coimbatore prison. Hence, he advised him to work at the oil press instead. VOC accepted the suggestion and pulled the oil press himself, a task normally reserved for bulls
Salem C. Vijiaraghavachariar, one of the doyens of the national movement during the pre-Gandhi era and the first Tamil to become the All India Congress Committee president, was ordered to be transported to Andamans to serve a 10-year imprisonment. He appealed to the High Court of Madras and got his conviction quashed on January 9, 1883
He was called the Bal Gangadhar Tilak of south India, as his accomplishments in instilling the national spirit, in public speaking and journalism were as exemplary as those of Tilak. There is no proper memorial for him in Tamil Nadu, barring an Ashoka pillar in Salem city where he lived for most of the time, wherein the plaque bears his name.