Harian Metro Online quoted the service centre manager R Subramaniam as saying he heard a loud explosion about 3am this morning and upon checking, saw the entrance of the two-storey centre on fire.

The blaze was eventually put out, and a police report, lodged.

The motive of the attack against Ramasamy’s office is unclear although the lawmaker has of late come under attack on social media for his criticism of controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik.

Several days ago, Ramasamy described Zakir as “Satan” on Facebook but deleted the word from his online posting following a widespread backlash.