The Q-branch police on Tuesday arrested three Tamil activists in connection with the pipe bombs that were planted at Union Minister V Narayanasamy’s house in Puducherry and at Reliance Supermarket in Madurai recently. The arrested persons - Thiruselvam (37), Thangaraj alias Tamilarasu (37) and Kaviarasu alias Raja (32) - belong to Tamilar Viduthai Padai. The Q-branch police headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajaram, city police inspector T Ravi and rural inspector Shanmugham arrested the main accused Thiruselvam at the four-lane National Highway near Ottakadai near Madurai on Monday night. The two other Tamil activists were arrested from Thiruselvam’s sister house at Mellur on Tuesday. Thiruselvam’s sister has been working as a headmistress at the Government school in Mellur and was not aware of the trio’s activities, police said.
Police said the trio planted a pipe-bomb at Narayanasamy’s residence on January 29. They planted a similar bomb at the Reliance Supermarket on February 12. The police found a pamphlet of the Tamilar Viduthai Padai (Tamilar Liberation Army) near the bomb. The pamphlet accused Reliance and Wal-Mart of destroying small businesses in TN.
“Apart from referring to the Eelam issue, the Tamil fishermen problem and KKNPP protest, the pamphlet threatened to bring down the Centre to save Tamil Nadu. Madurai SP Vijayendra S Bidari along with the Q-branch police formed a special team to investigate the case. After we found a similar pamphlet near Union Minister Chidambaram’s house, we gathered background information on the Tamil activist groups functioning in Madurai region,” Rajaram said. During interrogation, Thiruselvam reportedly confessed to sourcing explosive materials to execute their plan. The police seized four knives, five mobile phones, two laptops, a five-metre blue wire, a two-metre red wire and a scooty from the other two accused.