CHENNAI: A history-sheeter was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday, hours after he allegedly hurled three petrol bombs at the Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters, Kamalalayam, in Chennai. The crime was committed around 1.20 am, the Mambalam police said, adding that the accused, M Vinoth alias Karuka Vinoth, did it to show his opposition to the BJP’s stand on the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). There is no religious or political angle to the crime, the police said in a statement.
Accused nabbed with help of CCTV footage
The accused, a 38-year-old who hails from Nandanam, was caught with the help of CCTV footage from the crime scene. He had allegedly thrown a petrol bomb at a liquor store in 2015, and at the entrance of the Teynampet police station in 2017. In both cases, he was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Vinoth already has four attempt-to-murder cases and 10 other criminal cases registered against him in various police stations in Chennai.
The police have now registered another case and are conducting an investigation. Vinoth will be remanded in judicial custody after the probe. The crime sparked a social media war between DMK and BJP supporters. While BJP-affiliated handles accused the DMK of the attack, accounts linked to the DMK suggested that BJP men themselves staged the incident.
DMK IT wing secretary and Mannargudi MLA TRB Raja tweeted: “The accused is Karukka Vinodh, son of Mani, and the sangis are trying to distort the facts and provoke religious riots as usual. This substandard act is not new to the gangs looking for advertising by bombing their own homes. The culprit has been arrested at night itself.”