Miscreants disrupt NGO meet on illegal quarrying in TN, attack activists

AT least 25 men entered a private hall where the Arappor Iyakkam had organised a public hearing for people affected by illegal quarrying in Tirunelveli district here on Sunday and attacked five participants, including Dr V Suresh, national general secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), causing the hearing to be cancelled midway.

- THINAKARN RAJAMANI @ Tirunelveli

Arappor Iyakkam, which has been waging a legal battle against illegal quarrying across Tirunelveli district, organised the hearing at a private marriage hall near the collectorate campus in Kokkirakulam to document the accounts of around 100 people, including activists from Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts, who had gathered.

According to sources, Idaikal panchayat vice president S Dharmaraj, two farmers, and an Iyakkam volunteer, were among the others attacked by the men, who claimed to be supporters of stone quarries. The gang also verbally abused the Iyakkam’s convener, Jayaram Venkatesan, sources said.