Revoke Goondas detention against Arul Arumugam: PMK

CHENNAI: Pointing out an observation made by Madras High Court on Goondas detention of Arul Arumugam, who protested against land acquisition for SIPCOT expansion in Cheyyar in Thiruvannamalai district, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss urged the to revoke Goondas detention and drop plans to acquire agricultural land.

In a statement, Anbumani said that the High Court has termed the Goondas detention of Arul Arumugam for unifying and coordinating farmers to protest against acquisition of farm lands as malafide and arbitrary.

"The observation of the court proves that the allegations put forth by PMK are true. The court also directed to submit details of land acquisition, details of public hearing and other documents. PMK believes that collating the documents would reveal the extent of government's violations and how it made outsiders to take part in public hearing meetings to speak in favour of the project, " he added.

He noted that the government tries to acquire more than 2,700 acres of land for the expansion of SIPCOT. While the government owns thousands of acres only a few kilometres from Cheyyar, it is steadfast in acquiring farmers' land.

"To acquire the farmlands, the government suppresses the farmers in several ways. Due to this, residents of Cheyyar are angry. The government should understand the feelings of the people. Apart from revoking Goondas detention against Arul Arumugam, the government should drop plans to acquire agricultural land, " he urged.