Violent Cauvery protesters fail to stop gentleman’s game in Chennai

CHENNAI: Ravindra Jadeja ducked when a shoe came flying at him at long-off on Tuesday night. Outside the Chepauk stadium, a police officer’s reflex wasn’t as good: He took apunch from a Cauvery protestor and fell.
While Chennai Super Kings battled it out with Kolkata Knight Riders at IPL, Tamil Nadu groups demanding setting up of the Cauvery Management Board fought with policemen and forced cricket fans to remove their jerseys. The gentleman’s game, however, enthralled a capacity crowd.

Sensing trouble, some 4,000 policemen had thrown in a multi-layer security around the stadium. Yet a group reached one of the gates in the afternoon and tried to put a lock on it. By 4.30pm, protesters sat on the road at the Anna Salai-Wallajah Salai intersection, blocking traffic for about three hours. The scene turned ugly when some of them attacked three policemen on Wallajah Salai. The police used lathis to disperse a crowd led by some film directors, and director Vetrimaran was injured. The police said they arrested and later released 780 protesters. Some of the protesters who had got into the stadium posing as cricket fans held aloft banners and raised slogans.

Four of them threw shoes into the ground, and were soon removed from the stadium.

Fans wearing CSK jerseys were attacked

Outside, some agitators attacked cricket fans wearing CSK jerseys. A group stopped a car and roughed up men wearing CSK jerseys. As police were trying to stop the protestors from breaking the barricades, a few of them got into fisticuff with policemen. Pallavaram police constable Senthil was injured.

Political parties, film stars and some fringe groups have been demanding postponement or cancellation of IPL matches in Chennai till the Cauvery dispute was settled. Director Bharathiraja said he was not against cricket, but only the timing. They are asking spectators to boycott the match. Cricket fans, however, didn’t want to mix a riparian dispute with an evening of sports.