Protesters block Sreenivasan’s car demanding his resignation 

As the Minister was about to leave following talks with the aggrieved boy, the members of Social Justice Party blocked his car triggering tension. They shouted slogans demanding action against the Minister under SC/ST Act and condemned him for holding talks with the complainant, when the case is pending inquiry.

Police then removed the protesters from the spot paving way for the Minister’s car to leave. Earlier the members of Social Justice Party also squatted in protest against barring them from entering the hall, where talks were held between the Minister and aggrieved persons.

Similarly, the DMK, Congress and its alliance party workers led by Gudalur MLA Dravidamani staged a demonstration at Gudalur bus stand demanding the Minister to step down from his post. They also shouted slogans seeking his arrest.

In Coimbatore, members of Students Federation of India (SFI) and Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front submitted a petition to City Police Commissioner Sumit Saran demanding action against the Minister under the SC/ST Act.

“The Minister knows it very well that those who had gathered at the elephant camp were tribals. Yet, by asking the tribal boy to remove his slipper, the Minister had practiced caste discrimination. Also the District Collector and government officials should be booked under SC/ST Act for remaining mute spectators to the insult faced by the tribal boy,” said Dinesh Raja, district secretary of SFI.