Bid to lockdown booze shop at busy bazaar; protesters held

TIRUCHY: Tension prevailed at Orathanadu bazaar on Tuesday after CPM cadres along with the public attempted to lock down a Tasmac outlet functioning in the busy location.

Locals have accused that a Tasmac outlet is functioning in a busy market area in Orathanadu, making it inconvenient for the public. They said that they had approached the officials to relocate the outlet but for no avail. Local people decided to stage a protest demanding the closure of the outlet and roped in the CPM party for the protest.

The general public, members from farmers associations and the CPM cadre gathered in front of the Anna statue here and went on a procession towards the Tasmac outlet on Tuesday pressing their demand for its closure. The police stopped them from proceeding further resulting in a tussle. The protestors sat on the road and raised slogans against the Tasmac administration.

The Orathanadu Tahsildhar Suresh Kumar held talks with the agitating members. As the protesters demanded immediate relocation of the outlet and tried to lockdown the outlet, the police arrested as many as 45 protesting members including four women.