A march by Youth congress workers to Kerala State Assembly lead by Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil turned violent on Tuesday.
As the proceedings at the Assembly got halted following Opposition leaders raising the issue of abduction of women councillor in Koothattukulam municipality, several workers of Youth Congress marched towards the Assembly on the issue of Cabinet nod for a new brewery in drought-prone area of Mannukad in Palakkad district.
Protestors attempted to topple police barricades erected blocking the way from Palayam-PMG road. Traffic came to a standstill for over an hour with ambulances being forced to take diversions as protestors resisted police efforts to clear the way.
The workers symbolically burned an effigy of Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh amidst the protest alleging corruption for the role played by the Minister in granting permit to Oasis Commercial Pvt Ltd to start a new brewery in Palakkad. As tension brewed with issue of water scarcity unattended in sanctioning licence to what could be one of the biggest brewery and distillery in South India, police resorted to firing water cannons with two units of Varun-vehicle mounted water cannons to disperse the protesters.
