Coimbatore : Two MDMK Youth wing functionaries here today sought police intervention and inquiry into the charges levelled by BJP national secretary, H Raja that somebody has set afire an MDMK worker, when party leader Vaiko was beginning a padayatra in Madurai on March 31.

In a petition submitted to City Police Commissioner K Periaiah, Tilakbabu and Gopalakrishnan, urban and rural organisers of the wing respectively, said the worker, Ravi, now deceased, had set him afire during the meeting protesting against the neutrino project.

However, Raja, while addressing a press conference the next day, claimed that Ravi was set on fire by somebody, which was totally false and without any basic evidence, they said. Since the charge was serious, the petition sought the department to thoroughly inquire with Raja, who was in Chennai when the incident occurred, so that truth would come out.