Migrant workers’ protest turns violent, police pelted with stones in Tamil Nadu

After mobilising additional forces, the police resorted to mild force to quell the irate mob, an official said.

Chennai: A protest by migrant workers demanding justice for their colleague who died in an accidental fall from an under-construction building, turned violent at Kattupalli in Chennai’s northern suburb, with the workers suddenly resorting to pelting stones at police on Tuesday, an official said.

Police initially had difficulty in approaching the workers, who, after gathering in large numbers for the protest, suddenly hurled stones at the police party that arrived to redress their grievances, a senior police official claimed. After mobilising additional forces, the police resorted to mild force to quell the irate mob, he said.

Later, the police stormed the dormitory and rounded up the workers and also those who gathered on the rooftop for the protest. Police are interrogating over 55 workers involved in the violent attack, the official said.

They were on a protest demanding compensation to the kin of Amaresh Prasad (32) of Uttar Pradesh, a migrant worker who died after falling from a building in Kattupalli in neighbouring Tiruvallur district on September 1, police said.