Chennai: Even after normalcy was restored in Chennai, the city police on Tuesday cordoned off the Marina beach to an extent of six km affecting normal life along the arterial Kamaraj Salai.
Anxious parents searching for their children who took part in the jallikattu protest had a harrowing time to reach the beach, as the police prevented a public gathering.
In simple words, the police messed it up again by disrupting the administrative work of half a dozen government departments, including public works department, revenue administration, Tamil Nadu slum clearance board.
“Public, who wanted to avail government services from government departments were turned away by the police saying that jallikattu protests were still going on at Marina. In fact, we are also left with no option and have to walk for a kilometre to reach the bus stop”, said a woman government employee with Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.
When Deccan Chronicle visited Marina there were less than 200 protesters on Tuesday morning and by noon, the number dwindled to less than 100. The decision to close down the roads adjoining Marina had a ripple effect with heavy traffic snarls in Royapettah, Anna Salai, Triplicane and Ice House.
Reports have also emerged that some students who took part in the Marina jallikattu protest have not returned home and there were cases of concerned parents searching for their children along the Marina shoreline till Tuesday evening.
“My son Santhosh Kumar, a third-year student of a private engineering has been missing for the past 48 hours and I have not eaten food for the past three days. I told him to return on Monday”, said a mother accompanied by her brother Raja.
“We saw his bike parked at Velachery MRTS station this morning and it took more than two hours for us to reach Marina. The police prevented our entry at all sides and after seeing the crying mother, they let us inside the beach”, Santhosh’s uncle Raja told DC.
When DC contacted the family later in the night, the parents said that the boy returned. He was scared that the police might lathi charge, so he remained on the beach till night and then came home, his parents told DC.
When asked why the beach was closed for the public, a local police official quipped it was a decision taken by his higher-ups.
