CHENNAI: Agitated by the seizure of his vehicle by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, a 40-year-old auto rickshaw driver staged a protest by climbing to the top of a cell phone tower near Chennai Central railway station on Thursday.

A resident of Pallavan Salai in Triplicane, K Prakash, has parked his auto-rickshaw in a no-parking zone near the Central railway station a few days ago.

This prompted the RPF personnel to seize the vehicle and register a case against Prakash. On Thursday, he was asked to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 to retrieve his vehicle from the RPF.

Prakash requested that his vehicle be returned to him without the fine, but RPF personnel insisted that he pay the fine. In protest, the auto-rickshaw driver climbed the nearby cell tower and demanded his vehicle’s release. RPF personnel and police officials negotiated with him, and after a 30-minute protest, Prakash descended from the tower.

He is currently being questioned by Periyamet police, who are also investigating the matter. The incident also caused a brief commotion in the area.