Hundreds of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) workers including party general secretary Vaiko were arrested by the Vellore police near Gandhi Statue in Anna Road on Friday when they attempted to proceed from Vellore to Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, to conduct an agitation to besiege the Collectorate in Chittoor.
The agitation was aimed at condemning the AP Police Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (ASTF) f >iring on 20 Tamil Nadu workers in the Seshachalam Forests near Tirupati on Tuesday.
Talking to newspersons before commencing the procession, Mr. Vaiko demanded an enquiry by a sitting Supreme Court Judge into the incident. Denying the theory of shooting by the ASTF in self defence, he alleged that the workers were shot at from a close range, and therefore it was a “pre-meditated murder.”
He demanded a re-autopsy of the bodies in order to bring out the truth about the incident, and the immediate arrest of the police officials who were involved.
The MDMK leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even express his condolences to the bereaved families. “I condemn the attitude of the central government on this issue”, he said.
Mr. Vaiko said that the ordering of a magisterial enquiry by the Andhra Pradesh government into the incident was an attempt to cover up facts. He wanted the Tamil Nadu government to take steps to ensure that the AP government ordered a judicial enquiry.
