TIRUPATTUR: Three people allegedly attacked the BJP Vellore district secretary and another party member for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at a restaurant in Kulithalai Zameen village in Tirupattur on Saturday night. Police arrested the suspects on Sunday.
According to police, Vellore district secretary of BJP Lokesh Kumar (44) along with Ashok Kumar (43), a party member, both from Gudiyatham, were inspecting spots on the national highway from Gudiyatham to Madhanur to erect banners as a part of BJP’s state president K Annamalai’s ‘EN Mann, En Makkal Padayatra,’ which is set to begin at Gudiyatham on February 2. Around, 11 pm, after checking the spots, both went to a restaurant situated on the highways in Kulithalai Zameen village.
During dinner, upon observing Lokesh Kumar wearing a saffron band on his hand and a saffron-coloured Dhoti, a restaurant worker allegedly exclaimed “Jai Shri Ram.” Lokesh and his accomplice repeated the phrase, which caught the attention of three individuals at an adjacent table who, seemingly got irritated and started staring at them.
This escalated into a heated argument, resulting in a quarrel, following which Lokesh sustained injuries on his face and hands, while Ashok suffered minor injuries.
On information, police arrived at the scene, but the suspects fled from the spot. Lokesh Kumar was subsequently admitted to the Gudiyatham Government Hospital, while Ashok received treatment as an outpatient. Ambur Taluk police registered a case in connection with the incident. On Sunday, police arrested the suspects Mohammed Ismail, K Wasim and S Babu.