Three activists, who had planned to stage protests condemning the death of Fathima Latheef, a student of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, were taken into preventive custody in the early hours of Friday, and were released in the afternoon.
Various organisations had sought permission from the police to stage protests at Veerappanchatiram bus stand on Friday to condemn the death of the student, but police had refused permission on Thursday evening. At 3 a.m. on Friday, police picked up Nilavan, founder of Neerodai, Gana. Kurinji of People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Periyasamy, district president, Gandhiya Makkal Iyakkam, from their homes. They were taken to the Veerappanchatiram police station and kept till noon and were released by the police at 1.30 p.m.
Condemning the incident, members of various democratic associations and political parties submitted a petition to Collector C. Kathiravan at the Collectorate. They charged that Superintendent of Police S. Sakthi Ganesan was continuously refusing permission to various associations to stage protests democratically, while permission is given for BJP and RSS outfits. They condemned the bias shown by the district police and wanted the Superintendent of Police to be transferred.
