Bid to enter SL mission: Vaiko, Nedumaran held

CHENNAI: MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P Nedumaran and hundreds of pro-Tamil protesters were arrested here today for trying to enter the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission with an intention to forcibly shut it down, police said.

The protesters, under the umbrella organisation of Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement, staged a protest near the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission against the closure of the UN office in Sri Lanka.

When they later tried to proceed towards the Consular office without permission, they were arrested, police said.

A police release said Vaiko and Nedumaran were later remanded to judicial custody.

Meanwhile, CPI state secretary D Pandian, who participated in today's demonstration along with Vaiko and others, but was not among the arrested, criticised the arrest of Vaiko and others and demanded for their immediate release.