Removal of flag mast leads to protest

Chennai: The removal of a newly erected flag mast outside the house of BJP State President K Annamalai by the police led to a commotion at Panayur on the East Coast Road with several party workers staging a protest and indulging in stone throwing that shattered the windscreen of the JCB machine’s cabin in the early hours of Saturday.

Police cracked down immediately and arrested five BJP functionaries, including Amar Prasad Reddy, a close confidant of Annamalai in the party, prompting the party national co-incharge of Tamil Nadu, P Sudhakar Reddy, to make an appeal to all democratic forces to come forward and condemn the high-handed act.

Soon after the flag mast, meant for hoisting the BJP flag, was put up on FRiday, a group of local people gathered outside Annamalai’s house past midnight and started raising slogans. On hearing about it, BJP workers congregated in a large numbers at the spot, forcing the police to disperse the protestors from both sides.

However, when the police brought in a JCB machine to pull out the 50 feet tall pole, the BJP workers tried to block it and threw stones that smashed the windscreen. Police said that no clearance had been given for the erection of the flag mast on public land

Annamalai vowed to erect the flag mast at the same spot again and hoist the party flag when his yatra across the State concluded.