COIMBATORE: The city police formed three special teams to nab the unidentified assailants of a Hindu outfit functionary near Podanur on Wednesday. According to the police, M Anand (33), a district secretary of the Hindu Munnani, was attacked near a flyover on Nanjundapuram-Podanur road. He was returning home on his bike after attending a pro-CAA protest at Gandhipuram. The assailants reportedly followed him on two bikes and attacked him with an iron rod. Anand suffered grievous injuries and was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. The Podanur police registered a case.
Muslim driver attacked
On Wednesday night, when Anand was at CMCH, over 400 members of various Hindu outfits gathered there. They allegedly assaulted an autorickshaw driver, Mohammed Khani, who was there at that time. However, the city police rescued Khani and admitted him to a private hospital. Khani was a member of the Tamil Nadu Meter Auto Association, which petitioned the commissioner of police, seeking action.
1,500 cops deployed
Around 1,500 police personnel have been deployed to the city to prevent communal sentiments from flaring up. With communal issues rearing their head in the city over the past few days, a formal alert has been issued to the city police. Considering that the Muslims and Hindu outfits have announced a bandh, the police warned them not to force anybody to shut their shops.
Outfits call bandhs
Demanding the arrest of Anand’s assailants, Hindu Munnani called for a bandh across the district from 6 am to 6 pm on Saturday. Various Islamic outfits convened a meeting and called for a bandh condemning Hindu outfits for its alleged involvement in attacking an auto driver and hurling petrol bomb at a mosque. They will announce date on Friday.