Coimbatore: Bandh called by Hindu, Muslim outfits postponed on March 7

Coimbatore, Mar 06: The bandh announced by the Hindu Munnani and Federation of All Islamic Organisations and All Jamaat would be observed on March 7 as against its schedule on March 6. However, some 100 shops downed shutters in Valparai in the district of Coimbatore on Friday in response to the bandh call. Normalcy was not hit as buses and other vehicles plied as usual, police said.

The Hindu Munnani had on Thursday given the call for bandh to protest against the attack on its district secretary Madukkarai Anand while he was returning home after attending a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act rally on Wednesday night.

Similarly, the Muslim outfits postponed the shutdown to March 7. They were demanding the arrest of those involved in the hurling of petrol bomb on a mosque here and also an attack on a Muslim auto-driver who was standing near the government hospital on Thursday.

Early Thursday, there was tension prevailing in parts of the city after two mosques came under attack following which security was beefed up, police said. While a bottle filled with petrol was hurled at a mosque at Ganapati locality, there were reports of stones thrown at another place of worship at Kovaipudur, they said.

The incidents were suspected to be in retaliation to an alleged attack on the Hindu Munnani worker. Both Hindu and Muslim outfits had called for a dawn-to dusk bandh on Friday to condemn the incidents.

Madukkarai Anand was attacked by some unidentified people, who came on bikes while he was returning home after the pro-CAA 'dharna' on Wednesday. A large posse of police was deployed in sensitive areas to prevent any untoward incident.