House of Karunanidhi’s daughter attacked

INDIA: A group of 10 to 12 youth aged between 20 and 25 years attacked the residence of DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi’s daughter, Selvi, in Bangalore on Tuesday, a day after Mr Karunanidhi had said Lord Ram was a mythical figure.

The police suspects that the group might be affiliated to a radical Hindu organisation. A Tamil Nadu-bound bus was torched, allegedly by Hindu activists, at Bommanahalli here. Two people are feared dead in the attack.

The youth pelted stones and threw a “petrol bomb” at the house. No one was hurt as Ms Selvi and her husband, Mr Selvam, had left for Chennai on Tuesday morning. The family stays near Ragi Gudda temple at the South End “D” cross in Jayanagar’s ninth block.

“The group left a note written in Kannada terming Mr Karunanidhi as Ravana. The note also said that those who describe Lord Ram and the Ramayana as myth are Ravanas and such people should not stay in the country,” highly placed sources told this newspaper.

Deputy commissioner of police Alok Kumar told this newspaper: “The group arrived at the house between 7.30 pm and 7.45 pm and started shouting slogans against Mr Karunanidhi and Union minister T.R. Baalu, who belongs to the DMK. They also tried to set the main door of the house on fire, but it was extinguished.

The main door has been partially burnt and two window panes broken.” Mr Kumar, however, did not divulge any more details about the youth or the contents of the note recovered from the site. No one had so far been arrested in this connection.

Bangalore, Wednesday, Asian Age