Coimbatore is tense as police abuse a DMK cadre

Coimbatore’s PN Pudur was tense after reports that a DMK official had been physically assaulted by police close to a Maruthamalai Road voting place.

After police claimed compelled DMK cadres to dismantle a shelter that had been built up to provide booth slips to voters, the latter allegedly blocked the road.

According to sources, the BJP, the AIADMK, and the DMK erected three shelters a short distance beyond the 200 meters that is allowed between them and the voting place.

When a police team from Coimbatore Central headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Naveenkumar stopped by the scene, they urged the DMK member to take down the shelter and scatter the group. They’d reportedly gotten into a furious fight about it.

According to reports, DMK area secretary Bakiyaraj videotaped the incident on his cell phone. A police officer is said to have taken the phone and forced the official to sit on the road.

The cop and the DMK employee got into a fight while trying to get him off the road. The policeman reportedly gave the order for his crew to arrest the employee after putting him through physical abuse and taking off his clothes. A DMK cadre videotaped the incident, and the video quickly gained popularity online.

After receiving notice, DMK district secretary N Karthik convened with representatives from the coalition parties to have a meeting with City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan. Later, the matter was resolved peacefully.

Men from the BJP hurt in fight with VCK cadres

Ariyalur: A fight between VCK and BJP cadre in Narasingampalayam in Ariyalur on Friday resulted in three injuries, including one to a BJP IT wing employee. Voting for their candidate Thol Thirumavalan was being done by a group of VCK employees next to a booth at a local school. R Arun (23) of the BJP objected to this and told the police, which resulted in a fight between the two cadre. In the altercation, Arun, J Ajith (age 23), and S Selvakumar (age 36), who are all members of VCK, were injured. Officials were forced to halt voting for an hour due to the altercation. After everything stabilized, the voting started again.