Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

TMMK cadres court arrest

Staff Reporter

IN PROTEST: A woman with a child being removed in one of the police vehicles during the TMMK agitation in the city on Tuesday. . — Photo: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Coimbatore: The cadres of the Tamizhaga Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) courted arrest in large numbers at the Gandhipuram Bus Stand on Tuesday, demanding bail for undertrials from the minority community lodged in various central prisons across the State.

Members of the Charitable Trust for Minorities (CTM), an association formed for the welfare of the undertrials and their families (arrested in connection with the Coimbatore communal riots and serial blasts), took part in the jail `bharo' agitation.

Cordoned off

The entire Nanjappa Road and the peripheral areas of the Central Prison were cordoned off. Traffic in the area was thrown out of gear for nearly four hours. Access to the central prison came under strict surveillance. There was heavy deployment of police personnel under the direct supervision of the Inspector-General of Police, West Zone, A. Subramanian, the Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore City, Karan Singha, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), T.S. Anbu.

Addressing mediapersons at the demonstration venue, the State secretary of TMMK, E. Ummar, said that the undertrials had been behind bars for eight years. The "protracted" trial without bail was not just a gross injustice but violation of human rights, he said. Any political party or an alliance that assured "reservation for the Muslims and at least bail for these undertrials if not their release" would be supported by the community in the ensuing elections.

The police secured nearly 4,500 agitators including 1,700 women and children from Coimbatore, Mettupalayam, Podanur, Tirupur, Erode and Sathyamangalam and lodged them in wedding halls. The police said that they would be let off in the evening.

To express solidarity with the demands of the agitators, 25 undertrials in the Coimbatore Central Prison belonging to two groups went on a token-fast demanding speedy trial and bail.

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