Coimbatore: Two Hindu Munnani cadres were arrested on Thursday evening on charges of attempting to murder a 27-year-old man for speaking to a woman of their locality at night.
Police identified the accused as M Karthik, 27, and O Sanjay alias Sachin, 26, of Olympus at Ramanathapuram.
A police officer said the two had attacked M Aaqil Ahmed, 27, of Kottaimedu, on Tuesday night when he was speaking to a woman near a temple at Ramanathapuram. “Ahmed had befriended Charulatha, of Udhagamandalam in Nilgiris district, around six months ago and used to speak to her over phone. She was staying with a friend at Ramanathapuram. On Tuesday night, Ahmed went to meet her as she had asked him to arrange some money for her.”
While they were speaking, the officer said, Karthik and Sachin reached the spot on a bike and assaulted Ahmed with a helmet. “While one of them also stabbed Ahmed on his chest and thigh, the other one attacked him with an iron rod. They allegedly asked him whether he was into love jihad.”
Ahmed managed to escape and was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. Based on his complaint, the Ramanathapuram police registered a case against the two under sections 294 (b), 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and formed a special team to nab them.
The team arrested Karthik and Sachin on Thursday evening and produced them before a judicial magistrate at night. Later, they were lodged in jail under judicial custody.