Members of the Tamil Desiya Katchi (TDK) on Saturday locked up commercial establishments owned by north Indians in Pudukottai, Pattukottai and Thanjavur, demanding that non-Tamils leave the State.
Claiming that shops and business establishments run by north Indians were adversely affecting the prospects of Tamils, a group of TDK members placed locks on five shops at Mela Rajaveedhi in Pudukottai early in the morning, before business hours. They also pasted handbills asking north Indians to leave the State.
Another group of protesters locked up seven establishments in Thanjavur as part of the protest. When the shopowners arrived, they found locks in addition to the ones they had used on their shutters. Aggrieved, they brought the issue to the notice of traders’ representatives who, in turn, lodged a complaint with the Medical College police. Members of the outfit had also locked four shops in Pattukottai. In Tiruchi, the police arrested 70 members of the TDK.
