TN sees protests; Petrol bomb hurled at Coimbatore BJP HQ over NIA crackdown

COIMBATORE: In the wake of NIA searches across Coimbatore, an unidentified person allegedly threw petrol bombs at two different places in the city. According to the police, at around 8.15 pm, an unidentified man came by a two-wheeler and allegedly hurled a petrol bomb at a textile shop on Oppanakara Street. 

City police Commissioner V Balakrishnan and others rushed to the spot and special teams were set up to trace the unknown persons. Police said that they will check the availability of the CCTV footage to identify the miscreant.

In another similar incident, an unignited petrol bomb was found in front of the district headquarters of BJP office on VKK Menon road in New Sidhapudur in the city. The CCTV footage collected from the locality revealed that a person came on a two-wheeler at around 8.40pm, threw a petrol bomb towards the BJP office and sped away from the place. The bomb failed to catch fire and fell a few meters away from the office. 

After the incident, BJP cadre blocked the road at Gandhipuram junction and staged a protest in front of the Gandhipuram bus stand demanding arrest of the miscreants. Earlier, M H Jawaharirullah, leader of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, functionaries of Federation of All Jamat and Islamic Organisations, SDPI, PFI and other organisations, on Thursday evening, condemned the raids and they alleged that the raid was carried out only to threaten the minority community. They alleged that central agencies like NIA are being used by the central government to oppress those who speak about social justice and they questioned why not take action against those who threaten minority people.

During the search at A S Ismail’s house, hundreds of PFI cadres thronged the place raising slogans against the union government and central agencies. Despite CRPF personnel at the spot, cadres created ruckus as they removed construction materials placed on the roadside for hurling them. After the scuffle, the police detained 11 people. 

PFI and SDPI cadres engaged in road roko at five locations in Coimbatore Kuniyamuthur, Saibabakovil, Oppanakara Street, Kurichi Junction and Athupalam. More than 110 people were arrested in connection with these protests. 

(Inputs from Coimbatore, Chennai, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Trichy, Pudukottai)