Environmentalist Piyush detained for talk on green corridor

His arrest comes following the arrest of Tamil actor Mansoor Ali Khan for making similar inflammatory remarks against the eight-lane broad highway project, which has been facing stiff resistance from villagers in Salem and other districts.

On May 3, both the actor and the environmentalist shared the dais in a protest meeting against the green corridor project at a village in Omalur. While Mansoor Ali Khan said he will kill eight people and go to jail if the road project is constructed, it is not known on the remarks made by the environmentalist.

During a vehicle check on SalemDharmapuri road on Monday, police picked up Piyush Manush, who has been charged as a prime accused by Theevattipatty police for provoking public against government welfare schemes. The environmentalist had been taken to Omalur police station and an inquiry is underway.

The Salem police on Monday took into custody seven farmers, who prevented revenue officials from measuring their land for acquisition for the green corridor project connecting Salem and Chennai.

While the revenue department had scheduled a meeting to seek opinion from the villagers of Achanguttapatty and Adimalaipudur on the green corridor project on July 10, residents opposed the measuring of the land even before the meet. The green corridor project runs through 36 km in 26 villages in Salem district alone.

Last week, revenue officials had suspended measurement works after villagers gathered in large numbers for a protest. Anticipating a similar trouble, a large number of policemen were deployed on Monday in Kuppanur, Achanguttapatty and Adimalaipudur villages, for the officials to measure the lands marked for acquisition without any disruption.

However, farm owner Unnamalai and his family members refused to let the officials measure the land on Monday. As talks failed, the Veeranam police removed them from the spot and took them into custody.

Following this, revenue officials completed the land measurement work. A few other villagers, who protested, were also warned by the police. Tension prevailed as the anguished villagers got into a heated argument with the police, expressing their objection against acquisition of their fertile lands for the project.