Hours after a Periyar statue was vandalised in Vellore on Tuesday, several petrol bombs were thrown at the BJP office in Gandhipuram in Coimbatore. CCTV footage shows men arriving on bikes and throwing petrol bombs outside the party office. No one was hurt in the attack.

According to the police, several petrol bombs were thrown at the BJP office by four men on two bikes. The policemen and guards posted at the office immediately chased after the attackers but could not apprehend them. The attack is said to have happened at 3:30 am on Wednesday.

Reports state that the name board of the office was on the floor and had been trampled and one of the bombs hit the window too.

"Three members of the TPDK have been identified and efforts are on to nab them. Teams have been formed under the deputy commissioner for the same. The accused know that they have been identified and are currently on the run. There may be more people who acted behind the scenes. There was hardly any damage to the office. Only one flex banner was slightly burnt. We have to catch and investigate culprits for further details," a police officer told TNM.

According to ANI, Balu, a TPDK worker, surrendered before the police on Wednesday morning. Jeeva Nanthan, another worker, was reportedly arrested.

The CCTV footage shows three men throwing the bombs, both of which landed on the floor outside the office, setting the floor on fire.

The police suspect that the attackers could have been among the protesters who were out on the streets in Coimbatore on Tuesday to agitate against the comments made by BJP leaders recently.

An alarming remark was posted from the verified Facebook page of BJP National Secretary H Raja on Tuesday, stating, "Who is Lenin? What is his connection to India? What is the connection of communists to India? Lenin's statue was destroyed in Tripura. Today Lenin's statue, tomorrow Tamil Nadu's EVR Ramaswami's statue. "

Reacting to the post on the Facebook page, MK Stalin said, “No one can even dare to touch EVR’s statue. H Raja’s comments are done to incite violence. He has been repeatedly doing this. He should be arrested and Goondas Act slapped against him.”

As soon as the DMK opposed the comment, H Raja distanced himself from the Facebook post and said that the page was maintained by various administrators. The post was soon deleted.

Several other members of BJP in the state, including the Vice President of BJP Youth wing SG Suryah made similar observations. In his tweet, Suryah says, “BJP successfully completed the fall of Lenin in #Tripura! Can't wait for the fall of EV Ramasamy statues in Tamil Nadu.”

Defending Raja and others, BJP spokersperson Narayanan Tirupathi told News 18, “More than 99.9% of the people in Tamil Nadu are spiritual. EVR’s statue carries the message that whoever worships God are barbarians, whoever preaches God are rascals and whosoever keep faith in God are fools. Hindu outfits have for long demanded the removal of these statues but this has not been done till date. Hence, H Raja’s outburst. The words may have been harsh but the intention is keeping in mind the majority of the population.”