CHENNAI: Teachers affiliated with the Secondary Grade Assistant Teachers' Association (SSTA) continued their agitation for "equal pay for equal work" on the 15th day. The teachers were staging protests across various locations in Chennai since December 26.
On Friday, when the protesters tried to hold a rally from Vallaja Salai in Triplicane towards the Fort, the police detained more than 600 teachers.
However, tension prevailed for a while in the whole area after agitated teachers sat on the road in a sit-in protest, further prompting police to arrest them and board them onto buses.
During the protest demonstration, heavy arguments erupted between the detained educators and officers. The arrested teachers were sent to mandapams in Royapettah, Thirumangalam, Egmore, and other areas.
The teachers also alleged that the police have withheld their lunch programme until 6 PM and drove buses in circles around Chennai before dropping them off at distant locations far from the detention sites.
"We were not released at the promised spots but abandoned in remote areas," one protesting teacher alleged.