CHENNAI:A day after a TANGEDCO employee’s murder, his kin and friends blocked traffic on the Gandhi Mandapam Salai here on Thursday, seeking police action to demolish the building, being built by a local DMK functionary, besides detaining the prime suspect and the building owner under the Goondas Act.
The murder of the TANGEDCO employee Thyagu and the assault on his father Govindaraj on Wednesday was a fallout of the tension in and around Peeliyamman temple at Kotturpuram for the past six months.
Mylapore DCP V Balakrishnan, who arrived at the spot, where the protest was taking place, held talks with the protestors and assured them of action.
“Thyagu laid down his life to save the temple land which Ravi had allegedly encroached upon. We would not let him get away with that,” said a woman protester. “We want the building to be sealed with immediate effect and it should be razed down. He should not be allowed to enjoy the property,” she said.
The 30-minute stir saw traffic pile-up and the protesters were pushed into Ponniyamman Koil Road in order to restore the traffic. Some of them refused to disperse and were removed by the Kotturpuram police.
Thiyagu and his father Govindaraj were riding a two-wheeler along Lake View Road, when a trio staged an accident. Later, the three hacked Thyagu to death and injured Govindaraj. Hospital sources said the condition of Govindaraj is stable but yet to improve. Kotturpuram police have already detained the DMK functionary Ravi and his aide Thomas in connection with the murder.
Ravi was constructing the building near the said temple and had allegedly encroached upon 5,200 sq ft of temple land for better access to the construction site, which was the root-cause for the tension in the locality. Thyagu and others were against Ravi and had been going allout to prevent him from using the temple land.