Stalin again calls for TN Chief Minister's resignation
Chennai, May 23: DMK leader M.K. Stalin on Wednesday again called for the resignation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami after the killing of 10 persons in police firing on protesters marching against the Sterlite Copper Smelting plant in Thoothukudi.
Stalin also cancelled his Bengaluru trip for the swearing-in ceremony of Congress-JD-S coalition government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy in Karnataka. He left for Thoothukudi to assess the situation and meet those injured in the widespread violence on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters at the airport, the DMK leader reiterated his demand, seeking the resignation of the Chief Minister and ouster of the Tamil Nadu police chief.
Stalin also sought to know who ordered police firing on the protesters who were demanding the closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit over pollution concerns.
The DMK and other parties have announced state-wide protest demonstrations on May 25 to be held in front of all district headquarters. This is to condemn the ruling AIADMK for opening fire on protesters and also demanding permanent closure of the Sterlite plant.
A DMK statement said the Congress and the IUML, MDMK, VCK, CPI, CPI-M, Dravida Kazhagam and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi would participate in the demonstration.
Meanwhile, hundreds of CPI-M workers were arrested for staging protests at several places in Tamil Nadu, including in capital Chennai.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
ALSO READ: Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
