VELLORE: The Tamil Nadu police had to stop a prohibition awareness meeting abruptly on Thursday after a group of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) men stormed in support of arrested hooch distillers and objected to the event.
The Vellore district prohibition wing SP Senthil Kumar, who was to head the event, was forced to return midway after he was informed of the VCK men’s objection. The meeting was planned by the prohibition police to create awareness against distilling hooch and to reform and rehabilitate offenders, especially from Kallicheri village near Pernambut. But even before the event could start, around 25 VCK cadre from Vedachalam and Suravel arrived at the venue and picked up a quarrel with the cops demanding to know why they were conducting the awareness meeting after arresting the hooch distillers.
The issue relates to the recent arrest of 30 hooch distillers using drone cameras based on the orders of Vellore range DIG MS Muthusamy and Vellore SP N Manivannan. Of the 30 arrested, 11 were booked under the Bootleggers Act. Two traders, who sold jaggery for hooch distillation, were also arrested as part of the crackdown, sources said.
As efforts by the police to pacify protesting VCK cadre failed, participants of the event slowly dispersed from the spot forcing the organisers to call off the meeting.
Sources revealed that the heat was directed towards the Pernambut police, who arrested most of the offenders.
Reacting to the VCK party men’s action, sources in the Vellore district police office said they were not planning any punitive action against protesters.