Case of hurling of petrol bombs into BJP’s Chennai office be handed to NIA: Party chief Annamalai

The BJP leader accused the local police of destroying evidence and arriving at a conclusion even before registering an FIR.

“Some guy comes at 1:30 a.m. and throws three petrol bombs through the office doors. At 2:30 a.m. the police comes and clears the whole area. They pour water and destroy the whole evidence. Till now the FIR is yet to be filed. This is the first time I have seen something like this. Forget the Investigation, even before the FIR is filed, the local police have come to a conclusion,” said Annamalai.

Annamalai said they cannot accept the statement allegedly given by the accused that he hurled the petrol bomb to show his dissent against BJP’s stand on NEET.

“The said accused going by the police statement is a history-sheeter. He has just come out of Goondas Act and he has six cases registered against him. The police have given a flimsy reason. It is very surprising, a criminal element, whose value of education is like the distance between the earth and the moon has spoken about NEET.  This kind of statement is only laughable,” the BJP leader said.

He said the only way to bring out the truth is a professional agency like NIA taking over the case and investigating it.

“In the last eight months, you can see that the law and order is deteriorating across the state. This incident is one prime example. A national political party has been attacked in the middle of the night and the local police give a flimsy reason like NEET, how can you accept that? The whole thing shows that there is something that they are trying to hide,” he said.

He claimed that since the BJP has been gaining ground in the state, cadres of the ruling DMK are frustrated.

The state BJP chief also alleged that the intelligence wing, which reports to CM MK Stalin, has been tapping his phone and that he has strong evidence to prove it. His security status was downgraded from ‘Y’ category to ‘X’ category.

On hijab row in Karnataka

Commenting on the hijab row in Karnataka,  Annamalai, who served as the SP in Chikmangaluru district of that state for over three years, said the BJP stands for all religions but at the same time, uniform rules have to be respected.

“Every religion should prosper. We have to keep aside emotions and see this whole thing with rationality. When I was the SP,  such incidents used to never happen. The Congress party is trying to give a communal colour. We stand for people of any community or religion wearing what they want to wear openly outside. No one should trouble them but at the same time, the uniform rules have to be respected. Go to the classroom as a student, come out and wear whatever you want,” he said.

“In Tamil Nadu, former CM Karmaveerar Kamraj brought the uniform rules. The state has followed the policy strictly over a period of time. Be it saffron towels or any other thing, no one was allowed to wear them inside classrooms because of the strict policy. Now I hope and pray in Karnataka, the same was implemented. Some vested interest has taken over, gave a communal colour and now the case is before the Karnataka high court,” he said.