A Hindu Munnani office bearer and his father were brutally attacked on Sunday night after a minor scuffle with a Muslim man. They are undergoing treatment in a private hospital at Thanjavur.
G. Muruganandam (28) was recently appointed as the town secretary of Hindu Munnani’s Alangudi unit in Pudukkottai, TN, and runs a flex banner making shop. He had an altercation last month with one Mustafa (20) aka Jafaralluh while erecting a banner.
As a continuation of this scuffle, Mustafa along with elder brother Rahman (23), Mohammed Kani (19), Mohammed Niyas, Abbas (20), Ganesan (22) and Manikandan (22) used wooden logs, knives and bottles to attack Muruganandam and his father Ganesan as they were closing the shop around 10.30 PM on Sunday night.
They were rushed to the Pudukottai medical college hospital and then transferred to Thanjavur medical college hospital for further treatment.
புதுக்கோட்டை…
மீண்டும் மீண்டும்
தொடர்ந்து இந்துக்கள் மீது தாக்குதல் நடத்தும் இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகள்..
காவல்துறை உடனடியாக தக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும் என்று #இந்துமுன்னணி வலியுறுத்துகிறது… pic.twitter.com/2qwg7p2lG1— Hindu Munnani (@hindumunnaniorg) July 15, 2019
Angered by the attack, the victims’ relatives, friends and employees reportedly vandalised shops owned by Muslims in the area. One of the attackers was intercepted by the victims’ supporters as he was travelling from Alangudi to Pudukkottai by bus and hacked in revenge. Police rescued him from the roadside and admitted him in hospital. More than 200 police personnel were deployed in Alangudi to diffuse the tension and maintain law and order.
Popular Front of India connected the incident with various fake incidents of lynching and Muslims being allegedly forced to chant Jai Shri Ram after Narendra Modi’s return as the PM, and demanded the arrest of Hindu Munnani cadre. Hindu Munnani state president and his aides were detained on the way as they were reaching Thanjavur to visit Muruganandam and his father. They were made to squat on the floor and treated in a disrespectful manner at the local police station.
An FIR has been filed on seven persons for attacking Muruganandam and his father. Four of the Muslim attackers have been arrested thus far, and three Hindus have been booked for vandalizing the shops. Pudukkottai RDO held a meeting to bring peace in the region. Traders of the bazaar, men from the local jamath and persons of stature from the village participated in the meeting. Officials urged them to not let the incident flare up further and assured that perpetrator on both sides will be arrested.
The Hindu reported that Trichy range IG said that ‘the attack on Muruganandham and his father was due to personal motive and there was no communal angle to the incident and that the situation at Alangudi was well under control’. Hindu Munnadi cadres have staged protest at many places against the disrespectful treatment of their state president.
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