Over 1,000 DMDK cadre held

VELLORE: Over 1,000 party cadres of the DMDK were arrested in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts on Monday after they held road rokos condemning the arrest of the party president Vijayakanth.The party cadres in Vellore city staged a road roko at the toll gate. The protest was led by the party’s district secretary, Viswanathan. 31 persons were arrested.In a road roko held at Gudiyatham new bus stand, 50 persons were arrested. The protests were also held at various other places in the district, including the taluk office in Tiruppathur, the bus stand in Vaniyambadi, Arcot and Arakkonam.In Tiruvannamalai district, the protest took place in 15 places. In Tiruvannamalai town, it was led by the party’s district secretary, Thamizhannai Babu. Protests were also held at Thandarampet, Kalsapakkam and Keezhpennathur. At Arni old bus stand, Mandram Mano attempted selfimmolation. He along with Arni MLA Babu Murugavel and 25 others were arrested by Arni DSP Sundaramoorthy.Traffic was affected for over 30 minutes because of a road roko near Kongarampattu bus stand near Kannamangalam. Effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was burnt and stones pelted at buses. Around 50 persons were arrested.