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Keralite shops attacked in Tamil Nadu over Mullaperiyar issue

Shops and commercial establishments owned by Keralites in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu came under attack as a fall out of the Mullaperiyar Dam controversy.

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Shops and commercial establishments owned by Keralites in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu came under attack as a fall out of the Mullaperiyar Dam controversy. Friday night saw vandals posing as lawyers destroying small eateries, juice shops and bakeries owned by Keralites in various parts of the city. “My fruit juice shop was completely destroyed by a group of lawyers. When I complained to the police, they asked me to keep the shutters down till the Mullaperiyar Dam issue is amicably settled,” Rafeeq, a shop owner told DNA. He said nearly 90% of the shops owned by Keralites have downed their shutters since Friday.

Tea shops owned by Keralites, one of the main lifelines of Chennai, too were targeted  by the attackers. “We have been told by groups of attackers to close the shops and leave Tamil Nadu at the earliest,” said Ramakrishnan Nair, a tea shop owner in Mount Road.

K Karunakaran, an office bearer of the Chennai Metropolitan Tea Shop Owners Association said more than 40% of the shops by members of the association had closed down following frequent attacks and threats. “Though there are 20,000 tea shops in Chennai city, only 4,000 shops have the membership in our association. Most of the shop owners are suffering the attacks silently. We don’t want the situation to be vitiated further,” said Karunakaran.   

A film unit which was shooting a Malayalam movie at Tenkasi down south was physically blocked by a group of Tamil workers. “They asked as to leave the state borders within one hour, and not to set foot in Tamil Nadu again,” said the film’s director, MA Nishad.

But Sanjay Arora, assistant commissioner of police (law and order), Chennai, denied reports about widespread attacks against Keralites. “These are not organised attacks. We have come across a few instances of sporadic attacks and have taken instant action. Some arrests too have been made. The situation is generally peaceful,” said Arora.

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