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Crime Rajiv Gandhi's statue vandalised in ChennaiLead
Chennai, Oct 24 IANS Unidentified
people damaged a statue of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in the northern suburbs of this
city Friday. In a separate incident, the
office of the Janata
Party was attacked in Madurai, official sources said. S. Manoharan, a spokesman of the Janata
Party spokesperson attributed the attack on their
office to "anti-
Indian elements opposed by our leader Dr Subramanian Swamy". "Over a hundred
people claiming to be
lawyers broke every
chair, table and
tube-light in our
office. They also assaulted me brutally. Since the
police picket posted here for
protection was removed, we were defenceless. For whatever it is worth, we have filed a
complaint with the
police," Manoharan told IANS. "The protestors shouted slogans vowing to chase
all Tamil traitors like Dr Swamy away from the borders of Tamil Nadu," R. Nagaiyan, a witness said. Gandhi, who was assassinated by a female
suicide bomber in 1991, and Swamy are considered to be symbols against the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - who are currently facing losses against the Sri Lankan
army. Meanwhile, over 500 workers of the MDMK were arrested for protesting against Thursday's arrest of their leaders Vaiko and M. Kannappan on charges of sedition and asking for an armed struggle to
support the Sri Lankan Tamils' quest for a separate homeland,
police said. The duo have been remanded to judicial custody and housed in the high
security Puzhal prison here.
Congress workers blocked
traffic in the northern suburbs here in protest against the damage to the statue of Rajiv Gandhi. --Indo-Asian
News Service tsv/vdm/jg 290
Words * 24102011