ARIYALUR: Nearly 250 BJP functionaries were detained on Sunday for allegedly violating orders and resorting to road blockades at two places in the district condemning the recent death of a farmer following alleged police excess.
While the police had refused permission for BJP to stage protest over farmer R Sembulingam’s (52) death, near Anna statue in Ariyalur, party workers defied orders and attempted a road blockade. Ariyalur police detained 220 protesters in a wedding hall. As party functionaries in Sendurai were prevented from joining the protest, several members resorted to a road blockade in Sendurai Bazaar Street. Around 30 of them were subsequently detained.
Earlier in the day, doctors from government medical colleges in Thanjavur, Tiruchy and Madurai in compliance with HC directions performed autopsy on Sembulingam’s body at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital. The procedure was videographed. The body was then handed over to his relatives. PMK functionaries paid homage to Sembulingam at his house in Kasankottai and demanded the death case to be transferred to CBI.