On 25 October, Vinodh hurdled a Molotov cocktail at the main entrance of the Governor’s official residence in Chennai while raising anti-NEET slogans.
Published Nov 11, 2023 | 6:48 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 11, 2023 | 6:48 PM
Accused "Karukka" Vinod. (Supplied)
Vinod, the accused in the Raj Bhavan petrol bomb case, has been detained under the Goondas Act by the Tamil Nadu police on Saturday, 11 November.
Vinod is now lodged at Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai in connection with the 25 October petrol bomb case, and his detention now under the stringent Goondas Act provides for imprisonment up to a year.
Police said that the Goondas Act was slapped on Vinod on 10 November, after Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore issued the detention order.
On the afternoon of 25 October, Vinod hurdled a Molotov cocktail at the main entrance of the Governor’s official residence while raising anti-NEET slogans.
The policemen posted outside as security immediately caught him. He was subsequently booked under four sections of the law and lodged in Puzhal prison under judicial custody.
Vinod is a history-sheeter and faces over a dozen cases, including one for hurling a petrol bomb in February 2022 at the state BJP headquarters in Chennai.
On 31 October, the city police approached a sessions court to cancel the bail granted to him in a case against him for throwing a petrol bomb at the BJP office.
The police had submitted in court that the accused did not comply with bail conditions. Following his release from prison on bail, he had thrown a petrol bomb on 25 October near Raj Bhavan’s main gate, and he was arrested, the police had said in the court.
The incident had started a fresh row of attacks between the DMK government and the Governor.
A Raj Bhavan complaint on the incident claimed that more than one person was involved and that when they tried to enter the residence of Governor RN Ravi, they were prevented by the sentries on duty. The complaint also contended that the petrol bomb exploded.
On 26 October, Governor Ravi also issued a brief statement, levelling allegations against the Chennai City Police. The statement said that the police did not register Raj Bhavan’s complaint about the attack.
It added that the suo motu action of the police diluted the attack to an act of simple vandalism, and the accused was hurriedly arrested and remanded to jail at midnight, after a magistrate was woken up.
The Raj Bhavan also charged that the action of the police prevented a “detailed interrogation” which could have exposed those behind the attack. “Fair investigation is killed before it begins,” the Governor’s office stated.
The complaint filed by the Governor’s Deputy Secretary T Sengottaiyan claimed that the attack was a consequence of the threats issued by the ruling party DMK and its allies.
Referring to the complaint filed by the Governor’s office, state DGP Shankar Jiwal said, “The information given in the complaint, as preferred by the Raj Bhavan, that more than one person tried to trespass into Raj Bhavan, despite the security personnel trying to stop them, and threw the petrol bomb which exploded, is contrary to the truth.”
In the official statement, Jiwal said that the accused “Karukka” Vinod, 42, was a habitual offender in the Teynampet police station area and had acted alone in the Molotov cocktail attack near Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, 25 October.”
Jiwal said that the accused had approached the Raj Bhavan alone with four bottles filled with petrol intending to throw them, but was restrained by the police personnel posted near the gate of the Governor’s residence.
In the statement, the DGP said, “Fearing arrest, the accused threw one bottle on the Sardar Patel Road and another in front of the Raj Bhavan’s Gate 1 leaving the police barricade damaged. No one was injured in the incident.”
The DGP also stated that it was because of the alert police personnel, deployed for the protection of Raj Bhavan, that the accused had been restrained and arrested.
Jiwal assured that a prompt and full-fledged investigation will be conducted into the incident.
The police also released the video footage of the incident backing their rebuttal. The footage also shows Vinod standing on the road and lighting the fuse of the petrol-filled bottles, and trying to throw them at the gate of Raj Bhavan.
The footage then shows the security personnel restraining and detaining him.
