PUDUCHERRY: A group from the Puducherry Traders Federation (PTF) met Senior Superintendent of Police, V J Chandran on Friday and requested him to find the culprits who wrote a threatening letter under the PTF president’s name to Pondicherry municipality commissioner R Chandirasekaran.
The writer, purportedly using the name of PTF president M Sivasankar, threatened the municipality chief with dire consequences if he continued with the drive against encroachments.
The letter warned him that there was “no guarantee for his life”, and “Ministers, MLAs, police officers were against the drive”.
The PTF group, which included its president, Sivasankar told media that the person who wrote the letter wanted to scuttle the cordial relations after the talks between the Pondicherry municipality and traders.
The Local Administration Minister, N G Pannir Selvam had arranged for a meeting between traders and municipality officials in which the drive against encroachments was temporarily suspended till Deepavali.
The traders had also given a representation to the CM N Rangasamy and Chief Secretary, Manoj Parida to stall the drive. The municipality had given a deadline to the traders to remove the encroachments before September 30.
The PTF president, Sivasankar, said the letter was a deliberate effort to create mistrust among traders and municipality officials and also to create chaos ahead of the busy season where the business was expected to pick up.