Chennai: Dispute over unpaid bill: 4 held for hurling bomb hurled at AMMK cadre's house

CHENNAI: The city police arrested four men on Thursday for allegedly hurling a petrol bomb at the house of an AMMK functionary in Vyasarpadi in connection with a dispute over an unpaid bill at his eatery. Two of the accused sustained leg fractures while trying to evade arrest.

Balamurugan (40), a resident of Indira Gandhi Nagar in Vyasarpadi, serves as the secretary of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) for Perambur East and runs an eatery.

Around 3 am on Thursday, Ravi, brother of Balamurugan, who stays on the ground floor, heard a loud explosion outside the house and rushed out. He saw a beer bottle on fire and an unidentified man photographing the scene on a mobile phone. When Ravi confronted him, the man fled.

Ravi alerted Balamurugan, who came outside and found that a petrol bomb had been hurled at the compound wall.

A complaint was filed. During the investigation, Balamurugan revealed that three people visited his restaurant a couple of days ago, consumed food and left without paying. When Balamurugan questioned them, they kicked the two-wheelers parked there and got into an argument. The police later examined CCTV footage in the area.

The police arrested Dhanushraj (19), his brother Monishraj (20), both of Karunanidhi Road in Vyasarpadi, Santosh (19) of Vyasarpadi SA Colony, and Stephen alias Settu (21) of Pulianthope. Initial probe revealed that Dhanushraj and Monishraj, enraged after being beaten up by Balamurugan for not paying their bill, along with two other friends, threw the Molotov cocktail at Balamurugan's house.