Kathiramangalam protesters threaten to disrupt Chennai's peace, police force stationed at key areas
Synopsis
To arrest the protestors, police vans were parked at the beach, secretariat office and governor's palace Surveillance was carried out at Marina beach. Policemen warned the protestors not to stage protest without permission.
It was speculated that the Kathiramangalam protestors would arrive at Chennai for staging a protest. Following this, police protection was given in four important places.
On 2012, ONGC had set up 7 oil wells in Kathiramangalam of Thanjavur district. The oil extraction process is active. The process involves transmitting the extracted crude oil through the pipes that are fitted beneath the earth. Recently, ONGC has been setting up new pipes when one of them in the Kodiyalam area started leaking and crude oil seeped to the surface.
Witnessing this, people from the village staged a protest. They demanded that ONGC left the village immediately. Later, the protest intensified as the leaked oil was set on fire. Following this, the police used batons to disperse the protestors. However, they failed to stop the protests.
Many political parties and social activists condemned the policemen for assaulting the protestors.
Meanwhile, the news of protestors' gathering in Chennai quickly spread on social media platforms.
On Sunday, it was said that the protestors would be divided into four teams and they would stage the protest before the Secretariat office, Raj Bhavan, TN BJP office and Marina.
In order to prevent this, police protection was given in those four places. Surveillance was carried out at Marina. Since yesterday was a holiday, the crowd was overwhelming at the beach. The police, however, made sure that surveillance should not bother the civilians.
The vehicles were permitted only after a complete checking. In order to arrest the protestors, police vans were readily parked at the beach, secretariat office and governor palace. Due to these activities, Chennai sensed tension in air.
But even after 7 pm, no protestor showed up.
Policemen wondered if that would just be a rumour, but they continued to work.
With regards to this, the policemen said, “We were informed that the protestors are on the way to Chennai to stage a protest. We will arrest them immediately if they stage the protest without permission” .