Crowds squatted on the road blocking traffic
The mangled remains of the bus burnt down in Rameswaram on Thursday. (Photo: DC )
Rameswaram: Shocked by the death penalty handed down by Sri Lankan court to five Indian Tamil fishermen on Thursday, the fishing community of Rameswaram and coastal villages reacted sharply with protests that cut off the island from the mainland.
A state-owned bus was burnt and both road and rail transport services were suspended. As the shocking news of death sentence awarded to five of their colleagues spread like wild fire, the fishermen and their family members started coming over to the Madurai-Rameswaram national highway. The crowds swelled as time passed by and they squatted on the road blocking traffic.
Meanwhile, a mob set fire on a town bus proceeding from Pamban to Rameswaram while another group obstructed the railway track by burning tyres and separating the track links because of which the Madurai railway division was forced to suspend train services. The national highway was blocked with pipelines that were lying along the roadside.
Four trains originating from Rameswaram have been cancelled or rescheduled. Collector Nandakumar, DRO Viswanathan, SP Mayilvahanan and AIADMK MP Anwar Raja conducted talks with the agitators to withdraw their protest but their efforts proved futile.
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