In yet another case of public protests against the shifting of Bevco outlets, a group of around 300 protesters tried to forcefully close down a newly shifted outlet at Balaramapuram on Tuesday.
The group consisting of women and members of various political parties, started the protest in front of the outlet at Rasalpuram at 11 a.m. According to the police, they produced a stop memo from the panchayat office and demanded the staff to close down the outlet. When the staff refused to down the shutters, the protesters allegedly tried to barge in.
The police personnel, who were posted in front of the outlet, prevented them from going in, leading to a scuffle.
MLA sustains injuries
Kovalam MLA M. Vincent too intervened in the issue and was caught in the middle of the scuffle. When the police tried to stop the MLA, the situation got worsened.
Mr. Vincent reportedly sustained minor injuries in the scuffle.
The protest came to an end two hours later, when the Bevco authorities assured the protesters that the outlet would be closed. Cases pertaining to unlawful assembly, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servants from discharging duty have been registered.