On Sunday, a group of 9 miscreants reportedly tried to attack the house of S Gurumurthy, the editor of Thuglak magazine in Mylapore, Chennai at around 3:30 a.m. Gurumurthy took to Twitter later to inform about the incident.
My thanks for all those concerned at my safety because of the incident at my home at 3.30am in the morning. The police is investigating the matter. I am used to security issues since at least 1986. Kanchi Mahaswami will take care.
— S Gurumurthy (@sgurumurthy) January 26, 2020
As per reports, 9 men had tried to barge into the former journalist’s house in Mylapore when the guard on duty was alerted by barking dogs in the house. Seeing the guard approaching, the man allegedly fled, on bikes that were waiting for them.
CCTV footage has revealed one of the masked intruders was carrying a suspicious bag. Other reports have stated that the men might have been carrying petrol bombs
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mylapore, S Nelson, said “The house was under security cover. The unidentified men reached the area and were roaming around the house, evoking suspicion. When they tried to enter the house with a suspicious item in the bag, the personnel tried to accost them, following which they ran.”
The Commissioner of Police also informed that around five men approached the house while the remaining four were on their bikes. Earlier, on Monday, S Gurumurthy tweeted that the police have now arrested 2 assailants belonging to an extremist Tamil group. Moreover, he expressed his gratitude to the police for their reassurance and swift action.
Informed police had arrested two from a Tamil Extremist group. I must thank and congratulate the TN for swift action. Within 2 Hrs DC, JC & CoP came home to assure me of action which they have done
Alert guard foils attack on Thuglak editor’s house https://t.co/75tiJJ4vtL
— S Gurumurthy (@sgurumurthy) January 27, 2020
The Tughlaq magazine had recently decided to re-publish its articles dating back to Periyar’s Salem rally in 1971 after superstar Rajnikanth spoke about it in the magazine’s event. During the rally, it is alleged that naked pictures of Lord Ram and Sita were garlanded with slippers. This drew the ire of the Periyarists and the DMK who had demanded an apology from the superstar over his statement.
Rajnikanth had refused to retract or apologise over his statement.
It is, however, not the first time that Gurumurthy has been under threat. The noted journalist shared that a man named Fakruddin arrested by police in 2013 had confessed that he intended to shoot Gurumurthy. There was also another attempt to break into his by a masked man in 2014. The noted journalist and economist has stated that he was advised by NSA Ajit Doval after the incident over his security arrangements.
Gurumurthy has also stated that security threats are not new for him and he has faced them since the 1980s. He had been closely associated with Indian Express’ founder Ramnath Goenka. Gurumurthy rose to national prominence when he and Goenka took on the Reliance Industries in the 1980s. Gurumurthy and Goenka ran a series of exposes on the crony capitalism and policy influencing practised in the polyester industries.
Gurumurthy was also the key person who had brought the dubious financial dealings of the Chidambaram family to highlight. He had exposed Karthi Chidambaram‘s links with the Advantage Strategic Consultancy Pvt Ltd and brought the numerous proxies and benamis used by the Chidambaram family out in the open.
An RSS ideologue since his early days, Gurumurthy is also the chairman of the think tank Vivekananda International Foundation, a visiting faculty in IIT Bombay and a distinguished professor in Sastra University.
