Bandh passes off peacefully in Tamil Nadu

The Bharat Bandh, called by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the Left parties to protest the hike in petroleum prices, passed off peacefully in the State with some disruption in vehicular movement and flight schedules.



While buses run by the State-run transport corporations and private operators plied as usual within the State, inter-State vehicles bound for Kerala and Karnataka were halted at the border. Five flights were cancelled at the Chennai airport.

A senior officer said the number of passengers who booked by various airlines was less.

Industrial operations in Coimbatore, regarded as a major textile city, remained largely unaffected.

Production was on at textile mills and engineering units.
According to Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi, 99 per cent of the staff reported to work at the Secretariat.
Offices of the State and Central governments and banks in other parts of the State functioned as normal.
Director General of Police Letika Saran stated that 2,200 persons in some districts, including Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Kanyakumari, who attempted to block the movement of trains and vehicles on roads, were taken into custody and later let off.

Among them were 11 Members of Legislative Assembly.
As many as 270 persons, who were arrested on charges of forcing shops to close shutters and pelting stones at buses, were remanded to judicial custody.
In Chennai, BJP leaders Pon Radhakrishnan and L. Ganesan and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA S.K. Mahendran led the protest separately.
The AIADMK extended support to the bandh but stayed away from protests and demonstrations in Chennai.
The bandh had its impact in some parts of the State.