11 arrested in clashes between two villages near Tiruvallur

, July 24: A total of 11 persons were arrested and sent to judicial custody under five cases booked relating to recent clashes between people of two villages in Tiruvallur district, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa informed the Assembly today.

Replying to a special call attention brought forward by the Opposition parties, she said 11 persons have been arrested in the cases filed in Vangal Police Station and that police have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

"It is not right to link this incident with the recent dispute over sand quarrying in Kosasthalai river," she said. The sequence of events of the clashes started on July 20 when students from Velliyur filed a complaint with police at the village the following day over a minor dispute with students of Punnampakkam village.

Similarly, a person from Kadaarvedu village too gave a complaint on another minor dispute, she said. While both parties in these cases were summoned to be present for an enquiry by police, Gurumoorthy of Punnampakkam was attacked that morning by some persons from Velliyur.

When a road block by people from Punnampakkam was settled by police, some of them had attacked property in Thamaraipakkam,she said. District Collector and Superintendent of Police visited the spot and arrangements have been made to ensure violence does not spread to other areas, she said.

PTI