Jaya verdict: Tamil Nadu governor calls officials to discuss law and order
Violence erupted in several parts of the state with AIADMK cadres indulging in stone pelting, arson and forcing shops to down their shutters as news spread that a special court in Bangalore had held Jayalalithaa guilty of amassing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income and sentenced her to four years imprisonment and fined her Rs.100 crore.
Following the judgment, Jayalalithaa loses her position and also gets disqualified as the member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. A new chief minister has to be elected by the AIADMK legislators within two days.
A government bus was torched and several others were damaged in stone throwing, while there were at least three attempts at self-immolation by supporters of Jayalalithaa within hours of the court vedict.
What started as a sporadic violence in some parts of the state started spreading to other parts as AIADMK cadres stopped rail traffic and also threatened other road users. They also burnt effigies of opposition leaders.
The
AIADMK
partymen
also
stoned
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
leader
Subramanian
Swamy's
house
here.
The
party
cadres
had
assembled
outside
Jayalalithaa's
residence
in
the
morning
to
see
her
off
to
Bangalore.
They
were
also
ready
to
welcome
her
with
garlands
and
sweets
hoping
that
the
court
verdict
will
be
in
her
favour.
While a pall of gloom has descended over Jayalalithaa's residence in Poes Garden, the mood was upbeat at DMK president M.Karunanidhi's residence, just a kilometer away. Police beefed up security outside the residences of Karunanidhi, his son M.K. Stalin and senior leader K. Anbazhagan.
As soon as the court decision came, AIADMK cadres started stoning buses and forced shopkeepers to down their shutters in Kanchipuram, Trichy, Madurai and other places in the state.
In some places, policemen pacified the AIADMK cadres who were trying to force shop owners to pull down their shutters.
Some private companies decided to close early in the evening and theatres cancelled their evening shows in Chennai.
IANS