CHENNAI: A 21-year-old engineering student was arrested for allegedly attempting to set a college bus on fire with 11 students inside, near Periyapalayam in Tiruvallur district on Wednesday evening. Among those on board was a 20-year-old woman, a former partner whom the police said was the actual target of the attack.
The suspect, Srikanth alias Samuel (21), a resident of Palavakkam, is a third-year Artificial Intelligence Engineering student at a private college, and his parents are agricultural labourers.
The woman, a third-year arts and science student on the same campus, had been in a relationship with him for over a year, and the relationship had recently ended. The police said she had stopped engaging with him after the breakup and he allegedly carried out the attack.
Srikanth allegedly intercepted the bus on his two-wheeler near Ariappakkam and confronted her. He then allegedly poured petrol carried in a water bottle onto the bus and attempted to set it ablaze while the woman and 10 other students were still inside.
The driver, the conductor and members of the public intervened and overpowered him before he could ignite the vehicle, averting what could have turned into a major tragedy.
He was handed over to the Periyapalayam police.
Based on a complaint lodged by the woman’s parents, the police registered a case under relevant sections, including attempt to murder and harassment of women. Srikanth was produced before a court in Uthukottai on Thursday and remanded in judicial custody at Puzhal Central Prison.
