One unidentified person has been detained by the Chennai City Police in connection with the attack on the BJP office. On Thursday midnight, at 1:30 AM, some miscreants had attacked the BJP office in T. Nagar in Chennai, Tamilnadu.
BJP leader Karate Thyagarajan informed the media that a petrol bomb was hurled at the BJP office around 1:30 am. According to the Police, unidentified persons came on two-wheeler bikes and hurled petrol bombs at the entrance of the BJP office located in Vaidyaraman street in T. Nagar, Chennai. It is learnt that the office is guarded by police personnel 24×7. The Police informed that nobody was injured in the incident while no major damage has been reported.
A petrol bomb was hurled at our office around 1:30 am. Similar incident took place 15 years ago with DMK’s role in it. We condenm Tamil Nadu govt’s (role) for this incident…We have also informed Police…BJP cadre doesn’t get afraid of such things: Karate Thyagarajan, BJP pic.twitter.com/XVr4GfsUFX
— ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2022
While condemning the Tamil Nadu Government, Thyagarajan also reported that a similar incident had occurred 15 years ago with a role of DMK behind it. BJP General Secretary Karu Nagarajan took up the matter with City Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal and a case has been registered with the Mambalam Police. A report in The Hindu stated that after primary investigation, the police arrested one Vinodh from Nandanam after assessing the CCTV footage.
Apparently, the suspect has confessed before the police that the BJP office was attacked as a retaliation against the party’s support for the NEET issue in the state. The Chennai Police has taken the suspect in custody while the investigation is going on.
The BJP has stated that there is a larger conspiracy behind the attack and there should be an NIA probe into the issue.
Increase in attacks on BJP offices
Tamil Nadu has witnessed increasing attacks on BJP workers and offices. In 2018, a similar incident had broken out when petrol bombs were hurled at the BJP office in Coimbatore after a statue of Periyar was vandalised. Also in 2020, A BJP worker in the state was hacked to death by sickles by three assailants.
The phenomenon is not restricted to Tamil Nadu alone. Attacks on BJP offices and workers have erupted in states where the party is in opposition all over the country. In 2017, a BJP committee office in Trivandrum, Kerala was attacked by CPM goons. After the Bengal elections in 2021, the communal violence that erupted across the state marked several attacks on BJP offices and homes of BJP workers in the state including a ghastly attack on the BJP office in Arambagh.
