Nearly a week after an Army jawan from Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu was allegedly killed by a DMK functionary and his accomplices, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member was booked by the Chennai police on Wednesday for threatening the state government during a protest meeting.
Colonel BB Pandian (retired), a member of Tamil Nadu BJP’s ex-servicemen cell threatened the state by saying, “Do not trouble Armymen else we know how to use bombs and guns.”
“We are the second-best army with world-class discipline in the world. Don’t provoke us, we are experts in planting bombs, shooting and good at fighting. If army men are harmed, the law and order in the state will not be maintained. And that is neither good for the government nor the people of the state,” he added.
Later, while speaking to reporters who questioned him about his objectionable comments, Pandians stood by his speech and reiterated his warning.
“This is a warning to the Tamil Nadu government. If such incidents are repeated again, we will create an unlawful situation in the state. We will do it. Yes, I am threatening the government,” he screamed at the reporters.
On February 8, an altercation ensued between the deceased army jawan Prabhu with the DMK functionary Chinnaswamy at Velampatti in Pochampally over washing clothes near the town panchayat’s water tank.
Later, in the evening, Prabhu and his brother were attacked allegedly by Chinnaswamy and his men. Prabhu was admitted to a private hospital in Hosur, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
BJP State chief K Annamalai expressed shock and anger over the incident and said in a tweet “Soldiers are not safe in their hometown due to DMK anarchy. The DMK and its allied parties have turned to the extent of threatening their families, attacking and even killing soldiers who are protecting the country at the border, risking their lives.”
