PUDUCHERRY: Life in Puducherry came to a halt as a call for a complete bandh by oppposition AIADMK and the INDIA blolc to condemn the failure of the government in preventing the murder of a nine-year-old girl paralyzed the Union Territory.
The opposition parties also urged the government to take action against drug trafficking.
They demanded a strong punishment for the culprits involved in the murder of the nine-year-old girl, whose body was found in a drain near her home in Solai Nagar on Tuesday.
The INDIA bloc, including Congress, DMK, CPI, CPM and other political parties, staged a protest in front of Raj Nivas, demanding the resignation of Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who is the administrator of the UT, for her failure to take action in controlling drug trafficking.
PCC President and Lok Sabha member V Vaithilingam, former chief minister V Narayanasamy, Leader of Opposition in Puducherry Legislative Assembly R Siva, CPI State Secretary A M Saleem, CPM state Secretary R Rajangam, MLAs of Congress and DMK and a host of functionaries of the parties were arrested when they attempted to barge inside Raj Nivas forcibly.
The AIADMK members, led by its state secretary A Anbalagan, staged a road roko near Anna statue. Around 200 of the party cadres were arrested.
The VCK cadres also staged a road roko on the Puducherry-Villupuram road, following which they were arrested .
Anbalagan told reporters that the territorial government had failed to tackle the menace of drugs in the Union Territory (UT).
He said that the Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had gone on record on Thursday to say that the drug peddlers in Puducherry were having links with the drug mafia in Tamil Nadu.
He demanded that the arrested culprits (a fifty-year-old man and a teenager) should be awarded maximum punishment so that such crimes would not recur in the future.
He expressed concern that none of the ministers or officials visited the bereaved family.
Leaders and cadres of the Congress, the DMK and other parties of INDIA block staged a demo at the Pattanikadi junction to demand a stringent punishment for the accused.
Senior police officers camped at various points to ensure that there was no disturbance of law and order.
A police officer said that necessary police personnel were pressed into service.
All privately operated buses and autos and tempos went off the roads.
The bus terminus in neighbouring Orleanpet wore a deserted look with services stopped.
Vegetable vendors and fish sellers also did not ply their trade.
Jawaharlal Nehru street and a few other shopping hubs were empty with the merchants keeping their shops closed.
Tamil Nadu government buses were operated only till the Puducherry border. Other buses from Cuddalore to Chennai were diverted to the Villupuram route due to total bandh.
While attendance in government offices was normal, the turn out of patients at hospitals was less than the usual strength as there were no transport facilities, official sources said.
Stranded passengers travelling to neighbouring Tamil Nadu were helped by officials of the government transport corporation who took them in their vehicles to the bus terminus.
Puducherry Collector A Kulothungan said in a statement that the district administration has taken requisite measures to ensure that there is no disruption of services to the public as well as school students appearing for the examination. He added that measures have been taken to ensure uninterrupted essential services to the public.
Police personnel in huge numbers were deployed to avoid any untoward incidents.
People, however, were left stranded at several bus stands due to the lack of both government and private buses. With this, several people who had to go for work, patients visiting JIPMER and other govt hospitals in the morning were affected.
