The city police apprehended five men and are on the lookout for 15 others in connection with the petrol bomb attacks on two prime cinema halls in Royapettah on Monday night.
The attacks were in retaliation to the opening of ticket bookings for Vijay-starrer Kaththi , scheduled to be released on Deepavali day.
The two incidents took place in a span of 15 minutes from 11.30 p.m. on Monday, when a group arrived in two autorickshaws and an SUV outside Sathyam Cinemas complex.
The men hurled stones and three petrol bombs into the premises, resulting in a minor explosion. The miscreants then rushed in and hit the glass doors with pipes and rods before fleeing the scene. A shuttle bus belonging to Sathyam Cinemas was also damaged.
No one was injured in the attack as movie screenings were under way. The group then went to Woodlands cinema hall on West Cott Road, Royapettah, and hurled stones inside. Nobody was injured there either.
The glass façade of Sathyam Cinemas was completely damaged in the attack, which according to the police, was a stern warning by Tamil outfits against the release of the film.
An Anna Salai police team probed the attacks and examined CCTV footage from the cinema halls.
This helped them nab five men — Jayaprakash, Jayakumar, Vasudevan, Krishna and Appu, all activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam — on Tuesday.
The men were remanded to custody and sent to Puzhal prison on Tuesday after being charged with attempted murder, damage to public property and use of explosive substances.
A search is on for 15 others who were part of the group, the police said.
