Representative image of fire.
Credit: iStock Photo
Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu: A 70-year old farmer has allegedly been set ablaze by two men due to personal enmity, in this district, police said on Friday.
The farmer is being treated in hospital.
The incident occurred in neighbouring Kadampuliyur village at around 6.50 pm on January 29 when the victim Rajendran hailing from Maligampattu was riding in the pillion of a two-wheeler, police said.
The incident was being discussed widely on the social media on Friday. AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami slammed the DMK government over this incident and criticised the law and order situation of the state.
A senior police official said four special teams were formed to probe the incident.
"Four persons (including the two persons who doused petrol on the farmer) have been arrested in this connection. They will be soon sent to Cuddalore Prison," the official told PTI.
According to him, the victim Rajendran while travelling on the two wheeler was intercepted by these two persons who doused petrol on him and set him ablaze.
Passers-by alerted the police and immediately, the victim was taken to Cuddalore District Hospital. Later, he was shifted to Chidambaram Government Medical College Hospital, he said.
The victim would be taken to Kilpauk Medical College hospital in Chennai for further treatment, the official said. Responding to a query, the official said, the attack has been carried out on the farmer due to personal enmity.
Meanwhile, hitting out at the DMK government, Palaniswami said, "The sight of Rajendran running on the road with his body burning is a terrifying testament to the extent to which law and order has collapsed in the DMK regime."
People of Tamil Nadu are pushed to a state where they live in fear on a daily basis, he alleged. "It was not just the farmer Rajendran who burned in that fire, it was Tamil Nadu's law and order as well," he said in a social media post.
Palaniswami urged the government to immediately arrest the suspects and conduct a 'fair and transparent probe' in the matter.