CHENNAI: As agitations are on the rise in Thoothukudi following the National Green Tribunal’s recent order to reopen Sterlite’s copper smelter plant, a group of students were arrested in their attempt to bring the issue to attention in Chennai on Thursday.
Triplicane police have detained 10 students hailing from Thoothukudi for causing public nuisance by trying to carry out a protest against Sterlite’s reopening on Thursday near Chennai Press Club in Chepauk.
Carrying charts and banners which bore anti-Sterlite messages, 10 members belonging to a student organization based in Thoothukudi arrived near the Press Club around 11 am on Thursday.
A police team rounded them up and took them to the station. A police official said that the students loudly started shouting slogans when they were being taken. While three of the 10 members were school students, rest were arts and engineering graduates.
Police officials who had received information about the students’ plan were stationed at the spot in advance to detain them. “We came to know that students from Thoothukudi will be arriving at Chepauk around 10.30am on Thursday to protest against Sterlite’s reopening. We have detained them as a preventive measure and will release them by evening,” said a police official.
On December 15, NGT dismissed the state government’s pleas and ordered the reopening of the plant. Following this, various sets of anti-Sterlite organizations have resorted to intense protests. The state government, in turn, has decided to appeal against the order in
Supreme Court.
On May 23, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board ordered the closure of the Sterlite plant with immediate effect and directed TANGEDCO to disconnect electricity supply to the unit. The decision came two days after 15 people were killed in police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters.