Miscreants hurl petrol bomb at religious place

Chennai, Dec 8 (UNI) A day after the Periyar statue was desecrated at Srirangam, miscreants today hurled a petrol bomb at ''Ayodhya Mandapam,'' a religious discourse centre, at the busy West Mambalam area in the city this evening.

Police sources said about three to four people came in an autorickshaw and assaulted a flower vendor. They later lit a bottle filled with petrol and hurled it. The incident occurred at around 1530 hrs.

The Mandapam is a popular venue for religious discourses and rendition of devotional songs and bhajans. It is one of the landmarks in the city attracting a large number of people daily, during evenings.

A screen cloth in the Mandapam was burnt in the incident which led to tension in the area.

A senior police official told UNI the gang's intention to attack the 53-year-old flower vendor was more to create a sense of fear in the minds of the people present there than to harm him.

''He suffered minor injuries and was admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure,'' the official said.

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