Unidentified persons attempted to set fire to the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s office at Avarampalayam on Saturday.
According P. Muthukumar, a party worker from the area, the persons had set fire near the wooden door. They had also torched the notice board and place where the party organ Theekathir ’s posters are stuck.
This incident occurred in the small hours of Saturday and he got to know of it by 5.30 a.m. from people who delivered milk and newspapers.
He rushed to the office on the South Seventh Street but by then the passers by and residents had doused the flames. The fire had damaged the bottom portion of the door. It had also left soot on the façade of the tile-roofed party office.
On hearing about the incident, the party workers and residents of the area rushed to the spot. They also informed the Peelamedu Police, who have registered a case in this connection.
The police said that the miscreants had not used any fuel but plastics and wastes to set fire to the party office. They were told by the residents that a few youth who were fighting in front of the party office late on Friday night could have had a hand in the crime but they were yet to get a clear picture of what had happened.
CPM worker and former councillor R. Chandrasekar said that this was not the first time the party office had come under attack. Around three months ago, vandals broke open the wooden door and went on a rampage destroying furniture and papers.
The party had then lodged a complaint with the police.
Around two years ago, the party office on Shoba Nagar Road, near Mariamman Temple, was set fire, he added.
The repeated attack on the party office, at present sandwiched between two houses, was a cause for concern. It could be the handiwork of fundamental elements but there was no proof to establish the same, he added.
