Coimbatore tense after arrest of Hindu Munnani workers

Chennai, March 14 (IANS) Tension continued to grip Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore city
on Tuesday after the arrest of two Hindu Munnani workers.

The two were arrested on Monday, along with as many others, for allegedly assaulting migrant workers from West Bengal employed in a gold smithery unit.

Surya Prakash (19) and Prakash (23) are active workers of Hindu Munnani and they had picked up a quarrel with Gowtham Siyamel Kattuva (39), a native of West Bengal and two of his friends working in Coimbatore.

Two others, Pragadeesh and Velmurugan who were also arrested with the Hindu Munnani activists are college students.

According to Variety Hall police which arrested the accused, the four entered into a quarrel with Govind and two of his other accomplices and later assaulted the migrant workers.

The migrant workers then left the scene and reached their accommodation when two other of their colleagues narrated the assault by the four.

According to police, a case was lodged by the migrant workers at Variety Hall Police station and this led to the arrest of the four people, including two Hindu Munnani activists, on Monday.

Coimbatore is a sensitive area and the arrest of Hindu Munnani activists have upped the ante by the police. Coimbatore police have ordered a strong police contingent to be put in charge to maintain the law and order in the area.

The serial bomb blasts in February 1998 in Coimbatore had left 58 people dead and more than 200 injured. The blasts were carried out by Islamist organisation Al Umma whose leader SA Basha is still languishing in jail.

This has left Coimbatore a highly sensitive city where police have always been on an alert with stepped up security.

It may also be noted that the car blast in Ukkadam near the Sangameshwara temple on October 21, 2022, on the eve of Deepavali had left a 29-year-old youth, Jameesha Mubin, charred to death.

On inquiry, police found that it was a botched-up attempt for a massive killing near the temple but the car blasted before reaching a crowded place thus charring the main conspirator, Jameesha Mubin to death.

The police have always been on alert after the February 14, 1998 blasts in Coimbatore and the arrest of two Hindu Munnani activists has now led to further beefing up of security.