Samsung stir: Protesters shift site

Chennai: A day after police dismantled the tents used by protesting workers of Samsung India, a case of unlawful assembly has been registered against 625 protesters. Police checked driving licences and identity cards of many others, and arrested 30 people, including CITU's Kancheepuram district secretary E Muthukumar, and lodged them in a private marriage hall in Sriperumbudur.
On Thursday morning, several workers who were on their way to the protest site were stopped and sent back.
Owing to the curbs, the workers relocated their demonstration to Podavur village, approximately three kilometres from the Samsung plant in Sunguvarchathiram. A large contingent of police, deployed at Sirumangadu, Echoor, and Kunnam junctions, prevented workers from advancing to Echoor village, where the protests had been ongoing for 31 days.
Later in the day, former AIADMK ministers Benjamin and Ramana visited the agitators at the new protest site as expression of solidarity with them.
On Tuesday night, police had arrested CITU state secretary A Soundararajan along with scores of protesting workers.