A group of men allegedly belonging to a Dravidian outfit attempted to hurl a petrol bomb at the residence of noted Hindutva ideologue S Gurumurthy here but it was foiled by alert sentries aided by a dog's bark, police said on Monday.
Days after Tamil magazine 'Thuglak' reprinted some pictures linked to the 1971 rally led by rationalist leader EV Ramasamy Periyar, eight men riding four motorcycles arrived in front of the house of Gurumurthy, who is also the periodical's editor at 3 am on Sunday.
A row had broken out recently following a remark by superstar Rajinikanth that undressed images of Lord Ram and his consort Sita were taken out with a garland of sandals in the rally at Salem.
The actor had made the remark on January 14 at an event held by Thuglak here.
"The eight men belonged to Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam and before they could act, the alert sentries chased them and they fled," a police official said.
Following investigations, they were tracked down and arrested and their motive was to hurl a petrol bomb, he said.
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"Probe will reveal if there are others who were part of the attempt," the official said.
To a question, he told PTI: "A dog and his trainer were present at that time (in Gurumurthy's residential premises) and the animal barked after seeing the motorcycle-borne men and it helped.
The police personnel on duty noticed the men simultaneously."
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