After day-long protests and sporadic incidents of violence following the arrest of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday, the night passed off peacefully without any untoward incident in the city.
Normality slowly returned to the city since Sunday morning. Except for a schoolgirl attempting self-immolation near Ezhumalai near Usilampatti, no untoward incident was reported during the day on Sunday.
Meanwhile, windshield of a State-run bus proceeding towards Periyar bus stand from Aviyur was smashed by miscreants at Valayankulam around 6.30 p.m.
Hunger strikeThe urban unit of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) will observe a day-long hunger strike at the North Masi-West Masi streets junction in the city on Monday in protest against the court verdict which they said was “an injustice rendered due to political rivalry.”
Party unit presidium chairman K. Duraipandi will preside over the protest. Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa, Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan, All India Forward Bloc MP P.V. Kathiravan, All India Moovendar Munnani Kazhagam leader N. Sethuraman and party propaganda deputy secretary ‘Nanjil’ K. Sampath are expected to address the protesters.
Meanwhile, the city police continued with the elaborate security arrangements put in place since Saturday in view of the Imam Ali death anniversary on Monday.
Lean bus servicesThe city witnessed lean bus services on Sunday. According to TNSTC officials, the buses were operated depending on the rush and demand from public.
The bus services, which were suspended on Saturday, resumed in a phased manner from 7 a.m. on Sunday. “From Sunday evening, services to interior villages were stopped. The mofussil buses and city buses were operated as usual,” said an official.
However, another official stated that instructions were issued by the head of the depot to bring the city buses to the depots by 7.30 p.m. on Sunday.
Only 50 per cent of the public transport services were operated till 7.30 p.m. since the buses plying in the city and the outskirts had very few passengers. Meanwhile, the State Express Transport Corporation operated a limited number of buses to Chennai and Bangalore.
However, president of Madurai Omni Bus and Travel Owners’ Association A. Mydeen Basha said all private buses were operated to Chennai and Bangalore. “We had suspended the services on Saturday after tickets were cancelled. On Sunday, the services resumed and no tickets were cancelled. Some of the passengers who had booked tickets for Saturday night had postponed their journey to Sunday night,” he said.
