After the Periyar Statue in Vellore was vandalized on Tuesday night, petrol bombs were thrown at the BJP office in Coimbatore. The Periyar statue was vandalized after BJP Leader H. Raja called for bringing down the statue.
The police recovered CCTV footage of men throwing petrol bombs at the BJP office. Fortunately, no one was injured in the attack. The police reported there were four men on two bikes who were clearly seen in the footage. But the police and guards at the party office failed to apprehend the accused.
The attack took place at around 3:30 A.M., on Wednesday according to a senior police officer. The police also said three of the accused were Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) members and have been identified. A search party has been launched to arrest the culprits.
The vandalism of Periyar’s statue occurred after BJP Leader H. Raja put up a shocking post on Facebook. It read, “Who is Lenin? What is his connection to India? What is the connection of communists to India? Lenin’s statue was destroyed in Tripura. Today Lenin’s statue, tomorrow Tamil Nadu’s E.V.R. Ramaswami’s statue. “
Two Lenin statues were demolished in Tripura after the BJP got a shocking majority, dethroning the long standing Left Government.
DMK Leader M. K. Stalin immediately reacted to Raja’s post and said, “No one can even dare to touch E.V.R.’s statue. H Raja’s comments are done to incite violence. He has been repeatedly doing this. He should be arrested and Goondas Act slapped against him.” After facing the heat, Raja said someone else put the post on his page and deleted it immediately.
