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CHENNAI: Police arrested a BJP worker for faking a bomb attack at his residence in Thiruverkadu early on Thursday.

C Paramanantham , 49, had claimed that a bomb was hurled at his house. But forensic evidence collected from his residence showed that the incident was staged. Initially, when police questioned Paramanantham, the district secretary of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe wing in Tiruvallur west district, he denied the charges.

On Thursday, Paramanantham had told police that he had heard the windows smash, and seconds later petrol bombs were hurled into the house. He immediately woke his family and shifted them to safety. The raging fire had engulfed the furniture.

However, countered with the forensic reports on Friday, he confessed to having the staged the drama to get the sympathy of the villagers, with whom he was at loggerheards due to a court dispute. He thought following the incident the residents would assume that his life was in danger and would be considerate. He also wanted to avail police protection under the pretext and in turn show his power and importance in the locality.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that Paramanatham had approached the civil court in Tiruvallur seeking the court direction to remove the shamiana put up at a temple next to his land in Mela Ayanambakkam in Thiruverkadu. But his plea was dismissed recently. Paramanantham, who did not want to be ridiculed for the loss devised a plan to stage the drama.

To distract police he had also sprinkled chilli powder and burned a BJP flag near his house to make it seem like he was being targeted for political reasons. The Thiruverkadu police registered a case and remanded him in judicial custody.

