CHENNAI: Sporadic anti-NEET protests across the city, including at Jayalalithaa’s memorial on Marina beach, kept Chennai city police on their toes on Wednesday.Though the police had banned protesters from entering Marina, members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) managed to reach the former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s memorial and staged a protest seeking justice for S Anitha, a medical aspirant from Ariyalur who killed herself.
Over two dozen youth, most of them from SFI, marched towards the beach. When stopped by police, they reached the memorial and raised slogans till the police evicted them.Similar protests were held by Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) at MKB Nagar, Naam Tamilar Katchi cadres at Tiruvottriyur, students from the Government Nandanam Arts and Science College near Guindy, and students from Loyola College.
City police arrested 119 persons, including 11 women, from across the city who were part of the protest which was staged at these five places. However, students were not booked. All those detained were taken to a community hall before being released in the evening.Apart from this, 6,215 persons, including 1,010 women, participated in agitations across the city during the day.
As protests entered the fifth day, students and public are finding different venues to protest, keeping police on their toes. Meanwhile, the service lane to Kamarajar Salai was shut off for the public, and the entry points to the beach were blocked with barricades. Police personnel were deployed on the stretch from Anna Square to Light House on Kamarajar Salai and near colleges.