Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Police remove protesting AIADMK cadre

Staff Reporter

About 2,400 removed from the scene in city and rural areas

IN UNISON: AIADMK cadre raising slogans against Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, at a protest they staged on Avanashi Road on Thursday. — PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Coimbatore: The police removed hundreds of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) cadre after they attempted to stage road blockade across the district on Thursday morning "condemning" the Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi.

In total, the police removed 1,969 persons including 113 women in Coimbatore Rural District while more than 400 including 100 women were removed in Coimbatore City.

Offences

For specific offences such as road blockades, burning of newspaper copies and for attempting to burn the effigy, more than 150 cadre in Coimbatore City and close to 700 in Coimbatore rural district were remanded to judicial custody.

Those removed by police as a preventive measure were released in the evening.

Those remanded to custody were charged with unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, violation of regulatory orders and causing breach of public peace and tranquillity.

Poem

The protest was following a poem that appeared in the DMK party organ `Murasoli' purportedly against the "AIADMK General Secretary and former Chief Minister".

The cadres raised slogans hailing the AIADMK General Secretary and condemning the Chief Minister.

Led by former MLA K.P. Raju, they marched from the party office towards Avinashi Road and squatted near Anna Statue, from where they were removed.

Another batch of AIADMK functionaries led by the party trade union General Secretary, CTC Abdul Jabbar took out a march from the party office towards Red Cross Society Buildings where they blocked traffic and courted arrest. In Coimbatore City, none of the MLAs took part in the agitation.

Already five of the AIADMK MLAs were on conditional bail after their arrest at Selvapuram on May 21 when they staged a road roko protesting the eviction of their party women's wing mandram on Corporation land. The party sources said that their participation in the agitation and the resultant arrest might led to the cancellation of the conditional bail, hence the decision to keep all the 83 of them out of this agitation.

At Kuniamuthur, the police removed AIADMK workers numbering more than 200 including 78 women led by the party District Vice-Secretary, S. Thirumalaisamy and former MLA and Rohini alias P.R. Krishnakumar when they resorted to a roadblock.

In the Rural District, the AIADMK workers staged agitations at 16 places namely Avanashi, Annur, Tirupur, Palladam, Pollachi, Udumalpet, Periyanaickenpalayam, Kavundampalayam, Valparai, Seyyur, Koilpalayam and Mettuppalayam.

In three places i.e., Periyanaickenpalayam, Valparai and Thondamuthur, the agitators burned the copies of the DMK party organ `Murasoli'.

Attempts to burn the effigies of the Chief Minister were prevented at Seyyur, Annur, Tirupur, Pollachi and Udumalpet.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

`Effective microbes solution has helped contain fly menace'
Police remove protesting AIADMK cadre
Corpse recovered from house
Government to revise fee for fancy numbers
Fee revision for fancy numbers
Police appeal for averting accidents
Free vocational training courses for men and women
Detained under Goondas Act
Jaipur Express rescheduled
Around the City
In Coimbatore Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu