Chennai: City autorickshaw drivers held protests in different parts of the city on Monday, condemning the police crackdown on erring autorickshaws with faulty meters.
On Kamarajar Salai, near labour statue, the police dispersed around 150 auto drivers using lathi-charge after they created a ruckus and blocked traffic.
Around 11.30 am, the auto drivers gathered at Kamarajar Salai, many of them drunk, raised slogans and threw the barricades and started creating a nuisance to the public, the police said.
The police, headed by Triplicane deputy commissioner Anil Kumar Giri, tried to disperse the auto drivers, but after the crowd became unruly and damaged an autorickshaw carrying a passenger, the police used force.
While some of the drivers vacated the place, a few drunken drivers started disrupting traffic and we used mild force to disperse the mob, a senior police official said.
Members of the CITU, who gathered for a protest near the Chepauk guesthouse at 10 am held a peaceful demostation until 1 pm and dispersed on our request, the official added.
Of the 71,470 vehicles, the city police along with the transport department have confiscated 3,000 and only two weeks ago, the drive was intensified with the law and order wing also roped in and around 100 assistance booths were set up to ensure tariff compliance by the auto drivers.
According to a trade union member, the police and transport officials have been meting out step-motherly treatment to autorickshaw drivers and their pleas to check share autos fall on deaf ears.
“Sometimes, their act in such a manner that they villify us in front of the public, creating a wrong impression about us,” said Baskar, an auto driver from Perambur, who gathered at the demo at Chepauk.
The drivers also staged demonstrations in four other parts including Avadi, Mambalam, and Saidapet.
