Chennai: While the city police was making progress by arresting miscreants that brought a blood-bath culmination to peaceful Marina protest by students, it has emerged that a political party mobilised miscreants by hiring them for rioting.
Highly placed sources said the two public vehicles — a police van and a fire service vehicle — set afire by miscreants in Arumbakkam were carried out for Rs 200 per head along with a quarter (local parlance for liquor bottle) and a packet of biriyani.
“The modus operandi was similar to political parties gathering people for any public meeting or a major political event. This time around the job was to mingle with the peaceful protesters that resorted to flash road rokos on hearing rumours about police lathi-charging the protesters at Marina beach, and to damage public property, especially vehicles of the police and its allied units whatever the miscreants could lay their hands upon. The local arrangement came to light on quizzing the arrested miscreants,” said a senior police officer, privy to the investigation.
A similar arrangement was established in various pockets where violence erupted and the price went up to Rs 500 per head with routine provisions — biriyani and liquor bottle.
The officer who refused to reveal the political party involved maintained that they were in the process of investigation. “Apart from this political party there were these members of at least seven ultra outfits holed up in the lodges and mansions in Royapettah, Ice House, Mylapore, Triplicane, and other adjoining areas besides renting out the unused houses in slums at a lucrative price winning the confidence of the locals. The role of every perpetrator will be brought to books,” the officer told DC.
He also hinted that police would apprise the government about the adversities of allowing such fringe rabid groups to operate in the state and would recommend a ban on such outfits. However, the officer refused to disclose the allegiances, if any, of those so far arrested in connection with the instances of violence.
