Residents of T. Murungapatti and nearby villages staged a road roko on Saturday demanding permanent closure of a private explosives manufacturing factory where 19 persons were killed in a blast in December 2016 and also protesting against the detention of a youth who had participated in the sit-in protest staged by the villagers over the past few days.
The police chased away the agitators, who blocked the Thuraiyur-Thammampatti-Salem road near T. Murungapatti for more than 10 hours.
Aggrieved over the high handedness of the police, who allegedly detained a youth for questioning in the early hours from his house when he was sleeping, the residents of eight villages including T. Muruganpatti began assembling on Thuraiyur-Salem road on Saturday morning.
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They then resorted to a road roko, demanding the release of the youth and permanent closure of explosive factory, Vetrivel Explosives.
As the day progressed, the number of agitators swelled as several women joined them.
Raising slogans against the State government, revenue and police officials, they blocked the road traffic.
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Thuraiyur DMK MLA S. Stalin Kumar also joined the agitators.
On information, the police and revenue officials rushed to the spot and held negotiations. But, the protesters refused to budge.
They took strong exception to the police for foisting false cases against the male members with the objective of weakening the spirit of agitation of eight village people, who were staging protests for the last 10 days, demanding the retrieval of a public path from encroachment by a private explosive factory and permanent closure of it.
They accused the officials of colluding with the factory management for facilitating the factory to restart its operation.
One of the agitators, Kalidas of Badharpettai, attempted to commit self immolation by dousing himself with kerosene.
However, the police, who acted swiftly, thwarted his attempt. The incident occurred when the agitators were squatting on the road.
Following this, the police chased away the agitators and cleared them from Thuraiyur-Thammampatti Road.
They also arrested 54 persons, who staged a road roko for 10 hours since 4 a.m.
Of them 52 were women. They were all taken to a marriage hall in Uppilliyapuram.
Road traffic between Thuraiyur and Salem via Thammampatti was affected for most part of the day on Saturday due to the agitation.