11 held, main culprits still at large

Two people were killed in the attack on the government bus. Three of the 11 arrested, including Rajesh, were also allegedly involved in the attack on the home of Karun-anidhi’s daughter.

Those arrested are, however, peripheral participants in the crimes and the main attackers are in hiding, admitted the police, who have been under pressure to show results in the two cases. “We are looking for the others,” Additional Commissioner Bipin Gopalakrishna said.

“All those arrested say they did not actively participate in the arson incident but they know the identities of those who set fire to the bus. We have information from cellphone records of the identities of the main perpetrators,” police said. The police also refused to identify any specific Right wing affiliations of the arrested.

The attacks are considered to be a reaction by Right wing groups to Karunanidhi’s recent statements about the Ram Sethu issue.

The arrested have been identified as Harish Babu, Basavaraj, Narasimha, Seena, Vijaykumar, Manjunath, Manju, Sagai Raju, Papanna, Anil Kumar and Rajesh. They have been accused of unlawful assembly, arson, causing damage to public property and culpable homicide.

One of the two victims, who was killed when the attackers set fire to the Tamil Nadu bus, has been identified as Karupuswamy, a 34-year-old native of the Nallai region in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, who worked as a fitter with Reliance Industries in Chennai.

The body of the victim, a father of two very young children, was identified and claimed by his wife’s brother. News of the death was initially conveyed to his family by a co-worker who had traveled with him to Bangalore.

Karupuswamy was in Bangalore on work and was reportedly returning to Chennai when the bus was stopped and set on fire. He is believed to have been sleeping when the attack took place. The identity of the second person killed in the attack is yet to be established.