Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) created a flutter when they organised slogan shouting agitation in front of the marriage hall, where the son (S. Vivek) and school-going daughter (Kaviarasi) of late Sasi Perumal were detained on Sunday.
On learning that the son and daughter of Sasi Perumal were taken into custody for attempting to launch indefinite fast in the city, the members of DYFI led by N. Praveen Kumar, its district secretary, reached the hall at noon. When they were not allowed entry into the hall, they sat in front of the gate and raised slogans demanding the closure of liquor shops and condemning the government for turning a blind eye to the just demands of the family of Sasi Perumal and the general public. They also demanded the government to come out with a statement on the causes that led to the death of Sasi Perumal.
When the police asked them to disperse, they entered into a heated argument and wanted the police to arrest and detain them in the same hall. As tension mounted, the police led by S. Selvaraj, Deputy Commissioner of Police, forcibly removed them. But a few of them lay down on the road holding each others arm, giving a tough time to the police.
Later, about 60 DYFI members were arrested and removed from the scene.
A. Amalraj, City Police Commissioner, who visited the spot, directed the shifting of the 28 persons lodged in the hall to their native village.
However, they refused to leave the venue and raised slogans against the police. When the police attempted to forcibly remove them from the hall, Vivek swooned. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital.
Later, the police removed all of them to a police vehicle and transported them to the village. Earlier, the in-charge of DMK district units — R. Rajendran (central district), Veerapandi Raja (East) and S. R. Sivalingam (West), along with former MP, T. M. Selvaganapathi, visited the arrested persons at the hall.
The residents of Elampillai staged a road roko agitation in the village on Sunday demanding the shifting of the liquor shop functioning on the Kakapalayam — Attayampatti road. The police pacified them, following which they dispersed.
