By IANS
Bangalore : Security was tightened Wednesday in the Tamil-dominated areas and at the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Selvi here. About 30 policemen were guarding her house that was attacked Tuesday.
Over 20 people have been detained in connection with the attack and setting ablaze of a Tamil Nadu state transport bus, which left two dead.
“Strict vigil is being kept in the sensitive areas and in localities where Tamil-speaking people reside in large numbers,” Bangalore police commissioner N. Achuta Rao told reporters.
Police said about 10 people have been detained for questioning in connection with the attack on Selvi’s house in the posh J.P. Nagar area in south Bangalore.
The attack appeared to be in protest against Karunanidhi’s comments on Hindu god Ram. The attackers left behind handwritten pamphlets criticizing Karunanidhi for his comments.
Karunanidhi, an atheist and patriarch of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, had questioned last week whether Ram was an engineer and which college he had studied in, referring to the controversy over the Sethusamudram project.
A group of 15 to 20 people threw stones and threw glass bottles at Selvi’s house breaking window panes and ornamental bulbs on the compound wall around 8.30 p.m. Tuesday.
Selvi and her husband Murasoli Selvan were away in Chennai when the attack took place, according to police.
Only the watchman was present at the time of the attack and he suffered minor injuries, deputy commissioner of police Alok Kumar said.
The watchman told the police that the attackers, who were in their 20s, shouted anti-Karunanidhi slogans and left behind pamphlets attacking Karunanidhi for his remarks on Lord Ram.
In an apparently related incident, the Tamil Nadu State transport bus was stopped near Bommanahalli on the road to Hosur in Tamil Nadu around 9.30 p.m. and was set on fire after all passengers were asked to get down, the driver and conductor of the bus told the police.
After the fire was doused, police found two bodies burnt beyond recognition.
Meanwhile, Chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa condemned the incidents.
Yediyurappa, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party said no Hindu outfit was involved in either of the incidents. “It is an act of mischievous elements and police have been instructed to take strict action against the culprits.”