The police resorted to mild caning when workers of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (TPDK) attempted to force their way into the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) during a demonstration in Puducherry on Thursday. The police took 50 workers of TPDK into preventive custody and released them later.
The protesters, led by Veeramohan, president of TPDK, staged a demonstration in front of the SBI branch on Suffren Street to register their protest against the low cut-off marks set for the newly introduced Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in a bank recruitment exam conducted by the SBI.
The protesters raised slogans against the Centre and said the cut-off of 28% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) was lower than that of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
After staging a demonstration, the workers tried to scale the barricades and enter the premises. The police moved in and resorted to a mild lathicharge.
