Miscreants set fire to BJP leader’s car in Coimbatore

According to police, two men poured petrol on the SUV parked in the portico of the house of BJP district president C R Nandakumar and set it on fire. The front portion of the car was gutted in the blaze. The incident happened around 3am, when Nandakumar and his family were fast asleep in the house at Ramalakshmi Nagar in Peelamedu. On hearing a noise, Nandakumar rushed out and found his car engulfed in fire. He tried to put out the blaze, but the Fire and Rescue personnel had arrived by then and managed to douse it. 

Coimbatore City Police Commissioner K Periaiah and Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi held an inquiry at Nandakumar’s house. Fingerprint experts lifted prints found on the compound walls of the house. 

“Images recorded in a CCTV camera fixed at the portico of the house showed two men coming in a two-wheeler and setting the car on fire. At least four persons should have been involved in the act. Special teams have been formed to nab the offenders,” said a senior police officer. Police also secured five persons in connection with the incident and an inquiry is under way to nab the culprits. Following the incident, hundreds of party cadre visited the house of the BJP leader. 

Subsequently, the party workers took out a protest march till the Avinashi Road and resorted to a road block on the Masakalipalayam Road condemning the incident. They raised slogans demanding the arrest of the culprits involved in the incident. On March 7, miscreants had hurled kerosene bombs on the BJP party office on VKK Menon Road in Coimbatore. 

State BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan announced a protest in Coimbatore on March 23 condemning frequent attacks on Hindu outfits. She inspected the burnt car of Nandakumar here, and urged Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami to curb repeated attacks on Hindu leaders in the state.