Police on alert in India's Tamil Nadu after protests

Feb 21, 2009, 7:00 GMT

   New Delhi - Riot squads took up positions in cities across India's southern Tamil Nadu state on Saturday as shoot-at-sight orders were issued to quell mobs pelting stones and committing arson to protest Sri Lanka's war against Tamil rebels, news reports said.

   Protesting lawyers had burnt vehicles and damaged property after clashing with the police outside the high court in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai on Thursday, IANS news agency reported.

   The clashes followed the arrest of lawyers who had thrown rotten eggs at a politician, Janata Dal party leader Subramanian Swamy, on Tuesday.

   Swamy alleged that the lawyers who attacked him were sympathizers of the Sri Lankan rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and were unhappy with his stand against the LTTE.

   The LTTE is banned in India.

   The lawyers who clashed with the police were protesting the federal and state governments' alleged inaction over latest developments in Sri Lanka.

   Several policemen and a judge were injured in Thursday's clashes. Property in the high court compound was damaged and some vehicles set on fire by the agitating lawyers. A police station was also set on fire.

   Other incidents of violence by protesting lawyers were reported across the state on Friday. Over 200 lawyers were arrested.

   The Sri Lankan Tamil issue is highly charged in India's Tamil Nadu state, which has a population of over 62 million Tamils.

   Various groups, including some regional political parties, have demanded that the Indian government pressure Sri Lanka to protect Tamil civilians caught in the war.

   'We have tightened security after the unsavoury incidents earlier this week in the high court and elsewhere in the state. No chances will be taken and any activity deemed remotely anti-national will be dealt with strictly,' Tamil Nadu director general of police KP Jain was quoted as saying.