Hundreds of cadres belonging to Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Janata Dal (Secular), and Forward Bloc on Thursday laid siege to the Madurai railway junction in protest against diesel price rise, cap on cooking gas, allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, and disinvestment of some core public sector units.
The protestors, led by Madurai South MLA and CPI(M) State executive member R. Annadurai, raised slogans against the Central government, demanding immediate withdrawal of reforms and rollback of diesel prices. They termed them as war on the common working class masses and the middle classes.
Though the police led by Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order) R. Thirunavukkarasu cordoned off the main entrance, a few cadres managed to gain entry into the railway station through alternative ways and tried to stop the Guruvayur-Chennai Express. The moving train came to a halt and after a couple of minutes, it started moving as the police cleared the protestors.
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Later all the protestors were arrested and taken in buses and released in the evening. N. Nanmaran, former CPI(M) MLA; P. Sethuraman, State secretariat member; R. Jayaraman, urban district secretary, CPI; C. Muthuramalingam, State secretary, Forward Bloc; N. Ramesh, district secretary, K. John Moses, State secretary, Janata Dal (Secular); and Packia Thevar, rural secretary, took part in the protest.