THANJAVUR: Alert cops preempted an attack planned on VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan who was to hoist the party flag at Vadaseri village near Orathanadu on Thursday.
As many as 12 youth were held with petrol bombs. Two police special sub-inspectors were injured by blue metal used by the group.
Police said, Thol Thirumavalavan who participated in a wedding in Pattukkottai, Tiruchitrambalam on Thursday, planned to hoist the party flag at Vadaseri bazaar on his way to Vadapathy in Tiruvarur district.
Meanwhile, police was tipped that a group, belonging to a dominant caste from Vadaseri village, had planned an attack on Thirumavalavan as they resented the hoisting of VCK flag in an area where caste Hindus lived.
Following this, security in the Vadaseri bazaar and surrounding areas was intensified and police also patrolled the area. It was then that the SSIs of Pattukkottai taluk police, Rajendran and Gandhi, spotted a group on the banks of Pudhu Eri at Alathur village between Pattukkottai and Vadaseri, the route that was to be taken by Thirumavalavan.
As the SSI approached them, the group began fleeing after pelting blue metal stones at the policmen. In the attack, Rajendran sustained injuries on his head and arm. Gandhi also escaped with mild injuries.
Police found three Molotov cocktail made from beer bottles, two plastic bottles with petrol and a few empty beer bottles. They also alerted police in nearby areas.
When Meganathan, the Special Branch sub-inspector of Pattukkottai taluk police station spotted another group at Mullurpattikkadu village between Vadaseri and Alathur, he asked them to disperse.
The group first damaged his bike and then fled. Meanwhile, police diverted Thirumavalavan’s car through another route for him to reach Vadapathy.
The Pattukkottai taluk police registered two cases based on complaints by the injured SI Rajendran and Meganathan, the Special Branch SI.
In the meantime, when the police were on the lookout for the gangs gathered at two places, they picked up two youth who attempted to board a bus at Ambalapattu branch road in Thanjavur-Pattukkottai Road.
The arrest was based on the information given by the SSIs who were injured when blue metal stones were thrown on them.
The police identified them as D Divakar (23) of Mahadevapattinam near Mannargudi and M Saranraj (25) of South Street, Vadasery who has been working in Chennai for the past few years.
Based on their confession, police arrested six youths from Vadaseri.
They also arrested another six persons including the two who were picked up from Ambalapattu bus stop who had gathered at Mullurpattikkadu village.
A car used by the gang was also seized. The police are also on the lookout for 20 others involved in the case.