Now, Periyar statue vandalised; petrol bomb hurled at BJP Coimbatore office

A petrol bomb was hurled at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, earlier on Wednesday, according to news agencies. At present, few details are available regarding casualties. 

The incident comes after a statue of social reformer and founder of Dravidian movement E V Ramasamy "Periyar" was allegedly vandalised in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district on Tuesday night.  

Tuesday night's incident, which the police claimed was perpetrated by two drunk men, assumed political significance as it came after a BJP leader indicated that statues of the rationalist leader could be the next to be pulled down after statues of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin were razed by suspected BJP workers in Tripura. 

A senior district police officer said that two people -- identified as Muthuraman and Francis -- damaged the bust at Tirupattur in an inebriated state.

The duo has been arrested, the police said, adding that while Muthuraman was suspected to be a BJP worker, Francis was believed to be a CPI activist.

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With agency inputs