Duraimurugan leads Prohibition Stir in Vellore

DMK Members staged demonstrations in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai demanding the immediate closure of all Tasmac shops in the State.
Duraimurugan leads Prohibition Stir in Vellore

VELLORE/TIRUVANNAMALAI: DMK Members staged demonstrations in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai demanding the immediate closure of all Tasmac shops in the State, on Monday.

In Vellore district, protests were held in three places namely Vellore city, Ranipet and Tirupattur.

In Vellore city, DMK members, led by former minister and senior DMK leader Duraimurugan, staged a protest in front of the head post office in Anna Salai.

Minutes earlier, women cadre pretending to be widows of alcohol-addicted husbands performed the ‘final rites’ to a huge alcohol bottle. The funeral procession of the alcohol bottle was held between the DMK office in Anna Salai and the head post office - the venue of the demonstration. Slogans were raised all along the way demanding the closure of Tasmac shops.

Addressing the cadre, Duraimurugan said that alcohol ban is necessary in the State, at least to fulfil the desire of Gandhian Sasi Perumal (59), who passed away while staging a demonstration against a TASMAC shop in Kanyakumari district.

DMK members said that the party would ban Tasmac shops if they return to power in the 2016 assembly election. They also said that they had a strategy to compensate for the revenue loss that closure of Tasmac would entail, which is estimated to be around Rs 25,000 crore.

In Ranipet and Tirupattur, protests were conducted, in front of the RDO offices, by the respective local party cadre.

A similar protest was held in front of the Tiruvannamalai collectorate as well.

Meanwhile, fifteen members, including three women, were injured after a mini bus they were travelling in overturned near Melmannur in Vellore. The passengers, all residents of Pernambut were on their way to attend the DMK protest in Anna Salai.

All of them were taken to the Government Vellore Medical College and Hospital.

“Fortunately, all of them sustained just minor injuries. They are all safe,” said a police official.

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