The Coimbatore City and District Police have arrested more than 650 persons till Sunday morning in connection with the unrest that followed the murder of Hindu Munnani leader Sasikumar at Thudiyalur on Friday. The numbers could go up, a police officer said.
Of them, 542 persons, including 413 persons who were involved in resorting to road blockades and other forms of demonstrations that would kindle unrest, were released on bail. However, 129 persons were remanded in custody for their alleged involvement in violence and for planning for acts of violence.
On allegations that aged persons were also arrested though they were not involved in the riots, a police officer said that most of the arrested persons were youth. “We identified them based on CCTV footage and photographs.
Those arrested as a preventive measure were involved in such incidents in the past,” the officer said. Special teams were on the look out for more rioters who were reportedly on the run.
Led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) for Law and Order J.K. Tripathy, three officers in the rank of Inspector General of Police and as many Deputy Inspector Generals of police and over 10 Superintendents of Police have been deployed in the city to ensure there is no further disturbance in the city and the district.
The ADGP visited the place where Sasikumar was murdered and chaired a review meeting at the city police office on Sunday. Six special teams were on the look out for the murderers. Police sources said that they were yet to make a break-through in the case.