17 anti-CAA protesters detained in Chennai

As many as 17 persons, who were protesting against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the Valluvar Kottam here for the past few days, were detained by the Chennai Police. The detainees included Gayatri Khandhadai, the woman who was picked up for drawing rangolis against CAA and NRC.

After keeping them at a community hall for a few hours, the police released all the protesters. This is the second time that Gayatri and fellow protesters have been picked up by police in two weeks. On December 29, eight people were detained for drawing rangolis in Besant Nagar area here.

Gayatri said the protesters have been gathering at Valluvar Kottam, one of the designated locations for holding agitation in the city, for the past few days as police told them they can protest from 3 pm to 8 pm.

The same group had held a candlelight vigil at Valluvar Kottam on Monday in solidarity with students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who were attacked inside the campus on Sunday.

“On Thursday at 4 pm, 20 of us were detained and taken on a bus. We were sitting in a silent protest,” Gayatri said. Another protester said they were given only 5 minutes by the police to leave the place or get into a bus.