Chennai: Cases have been filed against more than 1,500 cadres of the Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK), including leaders Anbumani Ramadoss and GK Mani, after the party workers stoned trains, blocked roads and buses, as part of their Tuesday protest in the city. This development comes, even as Tamilnadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami announced that a commission will be formed to gather caste-wise data for the State.
High tension prevailed in the city’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, after a large number of PMK cadres from various parts of the State, including Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Villupuram and other districts, attempted to take part in an agitation demanding 20 per cent reservation for Vanniyars in government jobs and higher education.
The protest was presided by PMK Youth wing leader and former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.
Sources said, stones were pelted on a moving train and roads near Perungalathur were blocked, after the police prevented them from entering the city, citing the Covid pandemic.
Traffic came to a standstill on the GST Road. As police personnel stopped vehicles with party flags, the PMK cadres created ruckus. They haphazhardly parked their vehicles, indulged in heated arguments and also blocked roads on both sides of the arterial GST road to register their protest.
This led to massive pile up of vehicles to a distance of more than four to five km at Perungalathur, the entry point to the city, and Tambaram.
They also shouted slogans denouncing the police and indulged in stone throwing following which police used mild force to disperse them.
As they tried to board the trains to reach the city, EMU train services from Tambaram were stopped for more than half an hour.
Senior police officials held talks with the agitating PMK workers and advised the to follow the coronavirus protocols like wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing after which they dispersed.