Coimbatore Mar 26 PTI Workers of the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK clashed during the indirect election for the post of Town Panchayat President and vice-president at Vellalore near here on Saturday resulting in the police resorting to a mild cane charge A DMK worker suffered head injuries in the clash police said adding they had to step in to disperse DMK and AIADMK men who were involved in the clash Elections for the two posts had to be postponed on March 4 following a ruckus between AIADMK and DMK councillors Police had registered a FIR against 15 newly elected councillors for preventing the executive officer from discharging his duty as the election officer AIADMK secured a majority in Vellalore by winning 8 of the 15 wards while DMK won 6 and an independent won the other As the election process began there was an argument between the DMK and AIADMK workers leading to the clash The police personnel present at the place tried to bring things under control and prevent workers of the two parties from entering the polling office At least five people were injured in the mild cane charge police said adding that the husband of DMK Ward 4 councillor Gunasundari sustained head injuries Also some workers from both the parties pelted stones which caused damage to a police vehicle PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Feb 28 PTI The Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association Monday sought the support of police department to implement the recent judgement that the owners of eateries hotels restaurants are at liberty to fix closing timings on their own depending upon their convenience In a recent judgement the Madras High Court had held that police cannot decide the working hours of eateries and restaurants under the guise of law and order problems and also observed that it is the bounden duty of police authorities to provide appropriate protection to the eateries hotels restaurants the association secretary M Shivakumar told reporters here About 250 registered members are with our association and some thousands of hotel owners with lakhs of employees in the district will get benefited if the recent judgement is implemented he said After two years of the pandemic and related lockdowns this was the right time to get our business developed by extending hotel hours with the support of police and the state government Shivakumar said Justice Krishnan Ramasamy had pointed out that the police do not have the authority to shut eateries restaurants by citing law and order problems when they were not accorded such powers after the amendment to Section 35 vide Chennai City Police Amendment Act 2007 The State government alone is empowered to fix opening and closing timings of eateries and hotels and to make rules thereof the association quoting the judgement said PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Jan 27 PTI A leopard which attacked three people in neighbouring Tirupur district is on the prowl again pouncing on two persons on the premises of a knitwear manufacturing unit in the district A group of Forest department officials with anti-poaching squad had started search operations immediately after receipt of information that a leopard had attacked two farmers in a maize field in Pappankulam on January 24 In the process an anti-poaching squad member was also attacked Despite placing three cages and 15 cameras the Forest department personnel failed in their mission to either trap or tranquilise the animal as it shifted the hideout However it returned this morning and entered the manufacturing unit premises at Ammapalayam and attacked a gardener-cum-watchman and Prem Kumar member of the anti-poaching squad which had rushed to the area after being informed by a car passenger on sighting the carnivore crossing the road at Perumanallur The injured persons were admitted to hospital With search operations on the district administration and police alerted the public of the area and asked them not to venture out considering their safety Forest department personnel found pug marks in a farm in Pongupalayam and confirmed the presence of a leopard in and around the area following which 20 sensor cameras were fitted to monitor its movement department sources said They also found the half-eaten body of a pet dog near a well which was attacked by the leopard With the leopard is moving in and around the unit and a banana cultivation farm the Forest officials are taking efforts to trap the animal by tranquilising it PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Jan 24 PTI A BJP functionary was arrested on Monday on charges of trespassing into a Panchayat office here and installing a portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi police said BJP workers led by party district secretary of its trade unions M Baskaran entered the Panchayat office in Pooluvampatti on Saturday and allegedly installed the portrait They claimed that the portrait of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi was installed by the administration which had refused to install that of the prime minister Even as the officials refused to give in to their demand a BJP worker managed to nail the portrait next to Karunanidhi Baskaran a former councillor is said to have told that the party workers were ready to face any action initiated by the panchayat He also said since Panchayat offices used to have the photos of Prime Ministers the party will install the prime ministers photos in all panchayats town panchayats post offices cooperative societies and ration shops A complaint lodged by one of the officials late on Sunday based on which Baskaran was arrested Monday morning police said adding further investigations are on PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Jan 24 PTI Tension prevailed in the Ramanathapuram area in the city on Monday morning after devotees found a statue in a church allegedly vandalised After being alerted the management of Holy Trinity Cathedral found that the statue of St Sebastian kept in a glass cabin damaged and immediately informed the police who rushed to the spot As people started gathering at the spot tension prevailed for some time before police managed to disperse them Further investigations are on police said PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Dec 30 PTI Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence DRI seized 22 kg of gold worth Rs12 crore at the international airport here from four passengers who arrived from Sharjah in the early hours of Thursday Acting on a tip-off the officials kept a strict watch and took into custody four people who arrived by the Sharjah flight moving around in a suspicious manner in the airport police said On being questioned they revealed that powdered gold and ingots were kept in their rectum and the officials seized it along with gold bracelet and chains from their pockets all weighing 22 kg valued at Rs12 crore The four were identified as Sakubar Sadhiq Syes Mohammed Kaleel Rahman Mustaffa Nasaruddin Mohammed Thambi and Dastagir Khajamoideen and hailed from Ramanathapuram they said Further investigations are on with regard to the destination of smuggled items and the people behind it police added PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Dec 21 PTI Tension prevailed in a village in this district when footwear was reportedly hurled in the direction of AIADMK MLA Pollachi V Jayaraman on Tuesday The senior AIADMK leader who represents Pollachi in the state Assembly had come to Kothawadi village to visit a pond which was full after several years Accompanied by a large number of party workers Jayaraman arrived at the place to perform special floral pooja Some DMK workers who were present there reportedly entered into an argument with AIADMK men over which party deserved credit for the pond overflowing after several years police said This led to a fisticuffs among workers of both the parties and in the melee footwear was reportedly thrown towards Jayaraman police added However it was not clear if the footwear hit the AIADMK MLA Police present at the place managed to take Jayaraman away and also dispersed the crowd PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Dec 21 PTI With the damaged railway track in the Mettualayam-Coonoor section of Nilgiris Mountain Railway NMR being restored the Mettupalayam-Udhagamandalam-Mettupalayam trains will resume from December 22 Railway officials said on Tuesday The services had been cancelled for the last one month due to landslides and falling of boulders on the track particularly near the Hillgrove railway station due to heavy rains leading to disappointment among the tourists PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Nov 30 PTI A giant fish weighing 86 kg kept in a shop here is the talk of the town across the city with people making a beeline to catch a glimpse of it The fish Yellow Tuna arrived from Mangaluru in Karnataka on Tuesday morning at the shop of Kabir in Ramanathapuram area here and had to be unloaded by more than five people People from nearby areas thronged the shop to have a look of the huge fish The shop had a few months ago received a fish weighing 56 kg from Kerala Kabir who bought the giant fish at an auction said After cleaning the fish would have a weight of around 50 to 55 kg and one kg can be sold at Rs 250 he claimed PTI NVM SS SS

Coimbatore Nov 28 PTI A Personal Assistant PA of former Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami was arrested in Omalur in neighbouring Salem district on Sunday on charges of collecting lakhs of rupees from many people by promising to secure them government jobs Based on a complaint from Tamilselvan of Neyveli that the personal assistant Mani had taken Rs 17 lakh from him on the promise of getting assistant engineer post in the Transport department but failed to fulfil his promise and reportedly threatened him of dire consequences if he complained the Salem Crime Branch registered a case against him a month ago Police also registered a case against Selvakumar a broker Mani had approached the district court seeking anticipatory bail which was rejected following which he filed a petition in the Madras High Court Since the High Court also rejected the petition it paved the way for his arrest Sleuths from the Crime Branch on receipt of information that Mani was in his house in Nadupatti near Omalur rushed there and arrested him in the early hours police said Police are interrogating Mani as there are complaints from a few others that they had paid him to the tune of over Rs 50 lakh PTI NVM SS SS