THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tension prevailed at Muttathara in the city over the reopening of a Bevco outlet on Thursday. Despite protests by a section of local population, the Beverages Corporation officers reopened the outlet with police help.
The ‘Madyavirudha Samithi’ that leads the protest against the outlet for the past 55 days, includes people of different faiths and political affiliations. The outlet was closed after the protest gathered pace.
Since the outlet was one of the busiest in the capital, the Bevco approached the state government for help. Its managing director H Venkatesh said in a report to the government that the protest was orchestrated by some vested interests, including a bar hotel in the area.
On Thursday morning, a huge police posse arrived at Muttathara and removed the shed used by the protestors. Later, the protestors who assembled in front of the outlet were arrested and taken to the AR camp at Nandavanam.
Meanwhile, the subsequent reopening of the outlet was welcomed by a section of the population. They received the first batch of buyers with garlands.
Congress leaders V M Sudheeran and T N Prathapan visited the protestors at the camp. Sudheeran stated that he would stay there until the protestors are released. He also said he would join protestors from Friday.
The protestors, who were released later, announced they would intensify the agitation. According to them, the outlet is situated in a thickly populated area and would create law and order problems. The adjacent areas are Kamaleswaram, Muttathara and Paruthikuzhy wards.
The Bevco outlet here was originally shifted from Vellar at Kovalam. While the protestors point at the outlet’s proximity to the nearby Balakrishna Temple as a reason, Bevco rejects the argument stating that it was well beyond 100 metres distance.
While the local unit of the CPM is against the agitation, Congress, SDPI and BJP are in support of agitators. The outlet was a huge hit in the opening days as people in large numbers from the coastal areas Shanghumugham flocked there.