The city police on Saturday arrested around 40 members of the Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam for burning the effigy of Congress leaders here.
Members of the outfit staged a protest at two places in the city against the Supreme Court’s stay on the release of three convicts – Santhan, Perarivalan, and Murugan – in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
While one group burnt the effigy of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at Simmakkal, another group, which attempted to burn his effigy near Periyar bus stand was picked up by the police.
“The centre’s stand on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case is anti-Tamil. The convicts have already served their sentence. They must be released immediately,” said T. Dileepan Senthil, district deputy secretary, Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam.
“We will continue the protest until we get justice for the them,” he added.
It may be recalled that a day after the Jayalalithaa government decided to release all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court directed the Tamil Nadu government not to release till March 6, 2014 the three convicts, who earned a major reprieve on February 18 from the apex court which spared them from the gallows.
The arrested were later released in the evening by Thilagarthidal police.
