Chennai cleanliness workers' protest: Women released after arrest, men remain detained at community halls
Police sources said that discussions are underway to decide the next course of action.
City police arrested and forcibly removed protesting cleanliness workers from outside the Ripon Building, the headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), late on August 13, 2025. (Photo: Prithiv Raj Anbu)
CHENNAI: Hours after being arrested and forcibly removed from outside Ripon Building, where they had protested for nearly two weeks, the women cleanliness workers were released from among about 1,000 detained protesters. With the men remaining in custody in community halls across the city, the women have still not left the detention sites.
Protest representatives, including a few lawyers and law students, were also detained. The lawyers plan to gather in protest near Aavin at the Madras High Court.
Following the late Wednesday night crackdown, the city police had moved the sanitary workers to ten different locations, seizing all their mobile phones in the process. The holding locations include Vijayalakshmi Mahal (Keelkattalai), Jeevan Jyothi Mahal (Nandambakkam), Sarojini Mahal (Adambakkam), Muthamizh Kalaignar Samooga Koodam (Saidapet), community halls (Velachery, Maduvankarai, St Thomas Mount), M Chinnathambi Wedding Hall (Injambakkam), plus other locations in Alandur, Thiruvanmiyur, and Royapettah.
Meanwhile, police sources said discussions are underway to decide the next course of action.
Police officials on the ground are appealing to the detained protesters to continue their protest from designated sites, such as near Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore, after procuring due permissions, as per Madras High Court directions.