CHENNAI: A video of a woman deputy superintendent of police (DSP) being manhandled by a violent mob that pulled at her locks on the streets of Aruppukottai in Virudhunagar district earned pubic ire, prompting many political leaders to accuse the government of failing to maintain law and order in the State. The law and order situation had deteriorated to such an abysmal depth that no one had any fear of the rule of law and felt that they could get away with beating up anybody, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Tuesday in a statement. The incident took place during a protest taken out by the friends and relatives of a truck driver who was allegedly murdered. The unruly mob that took to the streets, blocked traffic on the road near the Government Hospital in Aruppukottai when a police team, led by the DSP, Gayathri, rushed to remove the protestors and clear the traffic. With the protestors targeting the woman DSP for attack, the police team had to rescue her from the clutches of the angry crowd. As someone shot the scenes relating to the assault on camera and released it on social media and television news channels telecast it repeatedly, the attack became a talking point in the State. The truck driver, Kalikumar, hailing from Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district, was waylaid while driving through Virudhunagar district. He died on the way to the Aruppukottai hospital, where his body was kept after postmortem. The relatives and friends who arrived at Aruppukottai on hearing about the murder, refused to accept the body and went for an impromptu agitation demanding the arrest of the assailants. When police tried to stop the agitators, they turned violent and attacked the police, particularly the DSP by pulling at her hair, which has been recorded clearly in the video that went viral. Police have arrested six persons and charged them under various legal sections. However, Palaniswami urged the State government to create an atmosphere in the State in which everybody felt safe and ensure that the assailants were handed out appropriate punishments that would be a deterrent to any one daring to assault police personnel on duty in future.
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