Miffed by his misfortune, Man throws Petrol bomb at Idol in Temple

CHENNAI: Allegedly miffed by his personal and professional misfortune, a 39 year old man held his faith responsible and hurled a molotov cocktail (petrol bomb) inside a temple in Kothavalchavadi near Mannady on Friday morning. State BJP President, K Annamalai was quick to dub the incident as a reflection of the law and order situation in the state, but Chennai Police who arrested the man said it was a case of inebriation coupled with incoherent state of mind.

The arrested man, J Muralikrishnan was a regular visitor to the Sri Veerabathra Samy temple, where he let out his frustration. A resident of Seven Wells, Muralikrishnan runs a wholesale store selling dry fruits in the same locality as the temple, police said.

Since he is a regular, the priest too did not suspect him of anything. Around 8 40 am, Muralikrishnan came to the temple and threw the petrol bomb towards the sanctum sanctorum in the temple.

"No persons were injured. No damage was made in the incident, " a senior police officer said.

However, the incident created a commotion among the people gathered in the temple and a patrol team reached the scene quickly and secured Muralikrishnan, who was in an inebriated state.

He allegedly told the cops that he was frustrated as his business was not doing well and his prayers were not met with positive results.

Kothavalchavadi police booked him under several sections including the Explosive substances act and arrested him. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.

Senior police officers and a Judge from the High Court visited the scene and conducted enquiries. CCTV footage showed Muralikrishnan pouring petrol into a glass bottle inside a tea shop nearby.

Two weeks ago, Police arrested Karukka Vinodh for hurling a petrol bomb outside Raj Bhavan. Vinodh is a serial offender as far as hurling petrol bombs is concerned and was arrested thrice earlier for the same offence.