The Tamil Nadu police have arrested 14 people from across the state in connection with incidents of petrol bombs being hurled at the houses of BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindu Munnani Katchi functionaries over the last few days. In a press statement, the police said that 19 criminal cases have been registered so far, and the accused have been arrested from Coimbatore, Pollachi, Erode, Madurai, Salem, Dindigul, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari.
According to the release, the arrests were for hurling petrol and kerosene bombs at vehicles and houses. Four people were arrested in Erode for trying to set fire to a woodworks shop. Meanwhile, the Coimbatore police on September 24 arrested two men associated with Hindutva right-wing outfits for assaulting a member of the SDPI. Padayappa and Nanda Prakash of the Bharat Sena organisation, along with Vignesh of the Hindu Munnani, had allegedly attacked 42-year-old Jabarullah while he was on his way home on Friday. Both Jabarullah and Vignesh, who were injured in the attack, were admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College (CMC) Hospital, while the other two were arrested.
The police action comes following a series of attacks on the premises of BJP, RSS and Hindu Munnani leaders in the last few days in the state. Protests turned violent in parts of Coimbatore as instances of vandalism, stone pelting and arson were seen. The agitation came in the backdrop of the arrest of Popular Front of India (PFI) leaders following a nation-wide crackdown against the organisation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week. In anticipation of violence, massive police deployment was seen in Coimbatore with nearly 1,700 police personnel from 11 districts including Salem, Trichy, Tirunelveli, Madurai, and Ramnad arriving in the district on the morning of Friday, September 24.