Arrest real culprit: Outfits

Coimbatore: A day after police arrested a man from Salem for setting tyres on fire in front of four temples here, Hindu outfits and Periyarist organisations sparred over the incident on Monday.

Police should arrest the real culprit, BJP leader C P Radhakrishnan said. “If police fail to arrest the real culprit, the party will mount pressure on the state government through the Union government,” he said. “We condemn the state government for not allowing police function freely. We don’t believe that a man with learning disabilities damaged the temples. AIADMK has failed to condemn atrocities against Hindus. The state government should take strict action when Islamic terrorists and Tamil Naxals issue threats,” he told reporters at Gandhipuram.

Police are yet to nab those who hurled petrol bombs at houses of BJP functionaries, Radhakrishnan said.

Hindu Munnani plans to stage a protest at Gandhipuram to demand the arrest of the culprit, sources said.

Later, BJP leaders Radhakrishnan, Vanathi Srinivasan, G K S Selvakumar and S R Sekar, and Hindu Munnani functionaries petitioned city police commissioner Sumit Sharan.

Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) city president K Somasundaram also petitioned the commissioner, saying that BJP leader H Raja in a tweet blamed TPDK for the incident. Police should register a case against Raja for attempting to instigate violence, he said.

Meanwhile, police said they arrested Gajendran, the accused, after going through CCTV footage collected from various places.