Chennai: Tamil Nadu police have arrested at least 18 people in the state in connection with petrol bomb attacks following NIA raids on the Popular Front of India in the state. DGP Shailendrababu while confirming the 18 arrests said that 100 people involved in petrol bombing incidents are being investigated and those involved in such incidents and accomplices will be arrested under the National Security Act.
Police said they are interrogating many people on the basis of CCTV footage. An unknown person threw petrol bombs at the house of an RSS member in the Pattanadi area of Madurai on Saturday evening, the second such incident in the state during the day. The attack took place at 7:38 pm according to the CCTV footage of the area.
The footage shows a man rushing towards the house of the RSS member identified as Krishnan. He then flings three petrol bombs one after another inside the house before dashing off from the scene. Police are investigating the incident. Earlier, a petrol bomb was hurled at the house of an RSS leader in Tambaram near Chennai in the early hours of Saturday.
No person was injured or no major property damage took place, police said. The occupant, Seetharaman (62), a district coordinator of RSS was inside the house with his family when the attack took place. The family members rushed out after hearing a loud noise. "At around 4 am, we heard a loud sound and saw fire outside.
We thought it to be a short circuit but it wasn't the case. We doused the fire and called police officials. They got the footage of the accused," Seetharaman said. On September 22, NIA officers raided the premises belonging to the Popular Front of India organization and arrested 11 Popular Front of India executives from Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu PFI took part in protests and pelted stones on buses at many places. As per officials, seven petrol bomb incidents have been reported in the state.
Also read: TN: Petrol bomb thrown at RSS member's house in Madurai, 2nd such attack in the day
