CHENNAI: A 39-year-old man was arrested and remanded on Friday for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail inside a temple at Kothavalchavadi near Mannady in the morning. While the BJP claimed that the incident reflected the “poor law and order situation” in the state, police issued a clarification saying that the man was under the influence of alcohol.
According to sources, the accused, J Muralikrishnan, is from Seven Wells near Broadway. “He owns a wholesale shop selling dry fruits next to the Veerabathra Swamy Temple located at the junction of Athiappa Street and Govindappa Street. He regularly visits the temple and is known to the priest too,” a senior police officer said. At 8.40 am, Muralikrishnan reached the temple and hurled a petrol bomb at the sanctum sanctorum. A police patrol team from nearby reached the spot and nabbed him.
During the preliminary investigation, Muralikrishnan said his business was not doing well and his prayers went unanswered. Agitated, he threw the petrol bomb inside the temple. The Kothavalchavadi police registered a case and said the accused was also drunk. Police perused CCTV footage at a nearby tea shop and found Muralikrishnan seated on a chair and filling petrol into a glass bottle, tightening its mouth with a lid and tying it with a cloth to light a fire. Police also said Muralikrishnan had several cases pending against him, including an attempt to murder and assault.
Senior police officers and a judge from the high court visited the spot and conducted an inquiry. Soon after the incident, BJP state president Annamalai took to X where he said, “The result of DMK’s failure to control separatist organisations that talk about pseudo-secularism and semi-atheism has resulted in petrol bombs being thrown inside temples today.”
AIADMK general secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami said, “In Tamil Nadu, like never before, people are scared and angry with those in power as bomb culture has extended from the governor’s official residence to temples.”