Stephen Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod
Kasargod, Jan 15: Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf and more than 15 others were taken into custody by Kumble police while staging a protest against toll collection at the NH-66 toll gate at Kumble Arikkady. Police also dismantled the makeshift shed erected for the indefinite protest.
Those detained include CPM Kumble area secretary C A Zubair, Kumble gram panchayat president VP Abdul Khader Haji, block panchayat standing committee president Ashraf Karle, A K Arif, and Congress leader Lakshman Prabhu, among others. After taking the MLA and other protesters into custody, police cleared the shed that had been set up near the toll gate for the indefinite protest.
In connection with the incidents that took place on Wednesday, police have registered cases against more than 500 persons.
On Wednesday, a group of protesters who had arrived in a procession from Kumble town vandalised toll gate cameras, scanners, barricades and glass panes. In the backdrop of these developments, the district superintendent of police had appealed to MLA A K M Ashraf to withdraw the indefinite protest. Following this, on Thursday, the MLA and others were taken into custody under the leadership of DySP Sunil Kumar.
Toll collection, which had been suspended from Wednesday night, resumed again from Thursday morning.