Kallakurichi violence: 120 protesters produced before court

CHENNAI: Police produced a total of 120 accused before Kallakurichi court of Tamil Nadu in relation to violence that broke out in the town yesterday after protesters seeking justice over the death of a Class 12 girl entered a school, set buses ablaze & vandalised school property.

Also, about 300 men have been detained and are being questioned for their involvement in violent acts and for vandalising the school on July 17, they said.

On Sunday, 70 people were arrested for violence and 2 men and a woman holding senior positions in the school management were held in connection with the girl's death.

The agitators, pushing down barricades put up by the police, stormed the premises of an 'international' school at nearby Chinnasalem and set buses parked on the institution's premises afire.

Some of them set ablaze a police bus as well and to vent their anger, agitators damaged vehicles, turned them on their sides and used a tractor-trailer to damage and push aside buses.

Several protesters managed to reach the top of an arch-like structure at the school entrance and vandalised the school nameboard and held high banners seeking justice for the dead girl.

A group of agitators had a free run and indulged in vandalism on the school premises. Some of them took away things like furniture and almirah from the school, damaged them and set them on fire on the road.

While agitators flung stones at policemen and women, several uniformed personnel picked up such stones and threw them back at the mobs. The violence led to traffic disruptions on the arterial Chennai-Salem highway and vehicular traffic resumed by evening.

The girl, an inmate of a room on the third floor of the hostel was suspected to have ended her life by jumping to the ground from the top floor. Reportedly, a postmortem report indicated that she had sustained injuries before her death. Police registered a case and initiated probe.

Her parents, relatives and people belonging to her village Periyanasalur, off Veppur in Cuddalore district, have been staging non-stop protest raising suspicions in connection with the teenager's death and seeking justice. The protests were being held in both Kallakurichi and Cuddalore Districts.