Chennai, April 24 (IANS): Tension gripped Ambalavanampettai in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district on Wednesday after the police arrested four persons for attempting to hurl a Molotov cocktail on a statue of B.R. Ambedkar.

A dispute between caste Hindus and members of the Adi Dravidar community is believed to be the reason behind the attempt to damage Ambedkar's statue.

The police told IANS that adequate security arrangements have been made in Ambalavanampettai to avoid further escalation of tension. The officers who made the arrests told IANS that a bottle filled with petrol fell on a dilapidated panchayat building near the Ambedkar statue and exploded. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident that took place in the early hours of Wednesday.

The arrested persons have been identified as P. Sathish Kumar (29), G. Krishnakumar (21), M. Vijayaraj (22), and V. Vetrivel (22), all from Ambalavanampettai. The arrests were made following a complaint filed by the VCK town secretary, A. Ambeth. The accused have been booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A senior VCK leader told IANS, "The caste Hindus are trying to intimidate and insult us, but we will not allow them to browbeat us.”