72 held for crude bomb attack on cops

A section of villagers belonging to a scheduled caste in W Pudhupatti, who moved to a nearby hillock alleging police atrocity, hurled crude bombs at the police personnel, deployed to maintain law and order in the village, on Wednesday night.

One bomb exploded making a huge noise, while another failed to explode. The policemen escaped without any injuries.

The police arrested 72 persons, including 53 women, belonging to two rival sub-castes of the community in the village.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Madurai Range), B Bala Naga Devi reviewed the security situation in the village on Thursday. “The situation is under control and we have deployed enough police personnel to maintain peace in the village.

When we went to arrest the accused, who hurled bombs at police personnel, the women from the village prevented us and even tried to assault us,” Najmul Hoda, Superintendent of Police, Virudhunagar, told Express on Thursday.

Madurai Deputy Inspector General of Police Bala Naga Devi, who inspected the village, said that the judiciary was already involved in holding peace talks with the villagers.

“We will join with the judiciary and try to bring permanent solution to the problem,” she added.