: Two AIADMK MLAs and 102 partymen were taken into preventive custody on Thursday evening for attempting to gherao the Mettupalayam municipal Office, in support of the eight party councillors who are on a sit-in strike for the third day following an altercation with DMK members.
The MLAs of Mettupalayam and Kavundampalayam, A.K. Selvaraj and P.R.G. Arun Kumar, had reportedly led the partymen. The AIADMK councillors were also arrested on a separate complaint lodged by the Municipal Commissioner charging them with disrupting the daily functioning of the office, police sources said.
At the council meeting on October 31, when the AIADMK members reportedly demanded presence of senior officials for a discussion on clearing of accumulated garbage, a DMK member was said to have flung a chair at the AIADMK councillors. Police complaints were said to have been lodged from both sides.
A strong posse of police personnel was posted in the vicinity of the municipal office all through the day. Barricades were erected and visitors were frisked before entering and exiting at the main entrance.
