Petrol bomb hurled at Raj Bhavan gate; suspect detained

CHENNAI: Tension prevailed outside Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi's residence on Wednesday after a man hurled a Molotov cocktail outside the Raj Bhavan gate along Sardar Patel Road, creating a flutter among security personnel.

Police personnel have detained the suspect identified as M Vinod alias Karukka Vinod, a serial offender as far as hurling Molotov cocktails - colloquially referred as petrol bombs - is concerned.

Police sources said that Vinod hurled slogans against the Governor for not signing the NEET ban bill, but officials pointed out that he has already been arrested twice for similar act, of which one is for hurling Petrol bombs at Teynampet Police station.

"We are investigating the motive behind his act, " Additional Commissioner of Police (South), Prem Anand Sinha said in a media gathering.

According to the additional commissioner, the incident happened around 3 pm, when the accused came armed with four molotov cocktails and from the Highway Research Centre building opposite Raj Bhavan gate, he hurled one. "It fell short of the barricades in front of the gate and no damage was done. He was secured immediately and taken into custody, " Prem Anand Sinha said.

Police seized three more bottles from him. Investigations revealed that two years ago, Vinod was arrested for hurling petrol bomb outside Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters, Kamalalayam. Vinod was also detained under the Goondas act in 2017 when he was arrested for hurling petrol bombs at Teynampet police station.

Vinod is a history sheeter who is involved in several other criminal cases, police said. Vinod, police said, prepares petrol bombs on demand. He had also committed a similar crime on August 12, 2015, when he pelted a Molotov cocktail at a Tasmac shop on South Boag Road.

"He has come out on bail recently. He had consumed liquor in the morning and had come and hurled the petrol bomb, " Prem Anand Sinha said. On asked whether there was a lapse in security, the additional commissioner brushed it down and said that he was secured within minutes because there was adequate protection.

State BJP President, K Annamalai took to microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) and condemned the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu.

Attacked with ‘bomb’, accused fled: Bhavan

Hours after the man was arrested, the Raj Bhavan took to social media with a loaded statement, claiming that it was attacked by “miscreants carrying bombs [who] tried to barge in through the main gate”. It added, “… assailants hurled two petrol bombs inside Raj Bhavan and escaped”.