Life in the native district of former Union Minister of Communication and IT A. Raja came to a standstill on Thursday with DMK workers, protesting his arrest and detention in custody by the CBI in the 2G spectrum scam case, going on a rampage, causing large-scale destruction of public property.
Even as almost all shops and commercial establishments put up the shutters for the second day, irate DMK workers damaged more than 10 buses, smashed the glass pane of Canara Bank's ATM along Thuraiyur Toad and tore up digital banners of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa put up to celebrate her birthday at three places in the district.
A small group of AIADMK workers reportedly retaliated by pulling down the ruling party's digital banner in front of Perambalur Municipality.
But for buses passing through the Tiruchi-Chennai national highway, public transport services — buses, taxis and share autos — came to a grinding halt across the district.
Three buses, one after the other, were damaged in Venkatesapuram Colony. To safeguard the vehicles from further damage, crew of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation parked a fleet of about 20 buses on the premises of the District Collectorate. The remaining buses were stationed in its depot.
Private transport operators followed suit, confining their buses to their depots. Two buses of the Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan group of institutions were among those damaged.
Except the Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan group of institutions, all the other private colleges and schools were reportedly kept closed in the town and its surroundings.
Government schools functioned with about 50 per cent attendance, and those in distant places such as Veppanthattai and Ammapettai functioned with near normal attendance, official sources said.
School heads exuded hope that normality would be restored on Friday.
Earlier in the day, scores of supporters of Mr. Raja took out a procession in a surcharged atmosphere from his camp office at Palakkarai to the old bus stand. A posse of police provided security.
Police sources said there were no injuries or casualties in the day-long disturbances. No complaint had been registered and there had been no arrest so far.
