Tension gripped Vandavasi Town after a group of people, reportedly Dalits, hurled stones at the election campaign vehicles of PMK candidate A K Murthy and assaulted his supporters at Periya Colony on Monday night.
Four persons, including three PMK cadre, were injured and three of their vehicles were damaged in the stone-pelting that snowballed into a law and order problem.
Police said Murthy,along with his supporters, had gone for seeking votes in Vandavasi town. They started the campaign at about 5 pm. It went on peacefully until the PMK candidate and his supporters entered Periya Colony at around 7 pm.
It was then a group of unidentified men hurled stones at the campaign vehicles for entering the colony area.
The PMK men halted their vehicles and got down. With the help of poor lighting in the locality, the gang circled them and assaulted them. The partymen retaliated.
In the scuffle, three PMK men were injured and windshields of three of their cars were damaged.
However, Murthy escaped without injuries in the ensuing fist fight between the two groups, said the police.
Angered over the attack by the Dalits, the PMK men gathered in large numbers and blocked traffic at Theradi Junction. The incident created a flutter for nearly two hours.
“Nearly 200 PMK men gathered at the spot and demanded immediate action against their attackers,” said a policeman.
On information, the police personnel rushed to the spot and tried to pacify them. Within an hour, the district police department deployed around 150 policemen in and around the locality to avert any further incident.
Senior police officers are camping in the town to take stock of the situation.
After an assurance from the police officials that they would take suitable action against the miscreants, the PMK men dispersed at around 9 pm. A case has been registered in this regard and investigation is on.