Petrol bomb hurled on Hindu Munnani office in Coimbatore

The communal tension that flared up in the city with the attacks on a Hindu outfit member and a mosque escalated with an unidentified gang allegedly hurling a Petrol bomb at the Hindu Munnani office.

COIMBATORE:  The communal tension that flared up in the city with the attacks on a Hindu outfit member and a mosque escalated with an unidentified gang allegedly hurling a molotov cocktail at the Hindu Munnani office near Kattoor on Tuesday. However, none was hurt as the office was closed at that time. Apart from this, two autos belonging to members of Hindu and Muslim outfits were pelted with stones on Monday late night.

It is suspected that the bomb was thrown at the Hindu Munnani's urban district headquarter's office on Range Konar Street on Tuesday early morning. The functionaries noticed the petrol-filled bottle only when they came to open the office around 11 am. The damage was minimal; objects, including flower pots and cartons, kept outside the building got burnt. On information, senior officials of the Kattoor police and forensic experts reached the spot. No arrest has been made so far, said a police official, adding that though there were two CCTV cameras in the vicinity, none was functional. After registering a case, a special team was formed to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, the police arrested two persons belonging to Hindu outfits for allegedly throwing petrol bomb at a mosque near Ganapathy on March 5. Also, two from a Hindu outfit were arrested for vandalising two parked vehicles belonging to a Muslim trader on Monday.

Hindu organisations boycott peace committee meeting

Representatives of several Hindu organisations boycotted the peace committee meeting chaired by Collector K Rajamani on Tuesday evening.

Following the series of incidents that triggered communal tension in the city, the district administration invited representatives of both the Hindu and Muslim organisations to bring the current situation under control. However, representatives of Hindu Munnani, Bharatiya Janata Party, and members of Sangh Parivar boycotted the meeting. Public Relations Officer of Hindu Munnani C Dhanapal said, "No FIR was filed against miscreants, who assaulted the party's district Secretary M Anand. Also, the police are yet to identify the gang, which hurled the bomb at our office. So, we have boycotted the meeting."

Sources in the district administration told TNIE that in the meeting, the representatives were appealed not to indulge in activities that affect communal harmony in the city. "The meeting highlighted the need to give up protests over CAA," the sources added.

Coimbatore City Commissioner of Police Sumit Sharan said that nearly 1,000 police personnel and two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed to keep the situation under control. "So far, we have solved three cases and our special teams are working round the clock to arrest the miscreants, who hurled a petrol bomb at the Hindu Munnani office and assaulted the SDPI functionary," he added.

Timeline:

March 5

• M Anand (33), district secretary of Hindu Munnani was attacked by miscreants near Nanjundapuram, when he was returning home on his bike after attending a pro-CAA protest at Gandhipuram.
• An autorickshaw owned by a Muslim was damaged by Hindu outfits in front of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

March 6

• Two men hurled a petrol bomb at the Hidayathul Sunnath Jamath Mosque at Vedhambal Nagar near Ganapathy.
• Traders shut shops at a few places in rural Coimbatore in view of a bandh, initially called by HM and Islamic organisations on Friday and later postponed for Saturday (March 7).

March 7

• Bandh took place in the rest of the places in the district.

March 8

• Three miscreants damaged an auto-rickshaw owned by a Hindu outfit's member near Townhall.
• Another auto-rickshaw owned by a Muslim was damaged by two miscreants near Madukkarai on Sunday night.

March 9

• City police conducted a communal-harmony meeting with both Hindu and Islamic organisations and warned them that action would be taken if anybody indulges in unlawful activities.
• Unidentified persons damaged windshields of two vehicles owned by a Muslim fruit trader on Chetti Street near Townhall.

March 10

• Mysterious gang hurled a petrol bomb at Hindu Munnani office premises near Kattoor.
• Two Hindu outfit members were arrested for hurling the petrol bomb at the mosque on March 5.
• Two persons arrested for vandalising vehicles owned by a Muslim fruit trader on March 9.
• A district secretary of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) was assaulted by a seven-member gang when he was alone at his shop near Ram Nagar in the city.
• Police deployed over 1,000 police personnel and two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF).
• Collector K Rajamani called a peace-committee meeting with both Hindu and Islamic organisations.