THOOTHUKUDI
Tension prevailed at A. Kumareddiyapuram village in Thoothukudi on Sunday after DMDK leader Premalatha Vijayakant, who took part in the ongoing protest against the expansion of Sterlite Copper unit, stated that except for her party-owned Captain TV , none of the television channels had broadcast the protest being organised by villagers here.
Journalists objected to this and said her claim was erroneous.
However, she went on defend her statement claiming that only after her participation in the protest at this village that the media had started covering it. Subsequently, a group of DMDK cadre abused the journalists and attempted to chase them away from the protest venue. It led to a scuffle between the party men and journalists, in which four media persons suffered simple injuries.
Later, the issue was taken to the notice of Superintendent of Police P. Mahendran, who pacified the journalists, saying that necessary action would be taken.
SPICOT police subsequently filed a case against 20 DMDK functionaries, including Ms. Premalatha, L.K. Sudheesh, Arumuga Nainar, Jeyaraman and Angayarkanni, under Sections 147, 148, 294 (B), 323 and 506 (ii) of the IPC.
