Coimbare/Salem/Tirupur/Dharmapuri: Pressing the Centre to form the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), DMK and other political parties engaged in road and rail-roko protests across the city on Monday. Police arrested over 300 cadres of various parties.

At about 9 am, DMK cadre led by the MLA N Karthik assembled at the Singanallur railway station and the blocked the train headed towards the Coimbatore Railway Junction. Over 50 cadre were arrested from the spot. The train was delayed by more than 15 minutes in the process.

District Coordinator Muthusamy held a road-roko protest on the Avinashi Road near VOC ground, bringing traffic to a standstill. Again, police had to clear the protestors to restore traffic movement.

In a flash protest, two DMK men belonging to the Peelamedu region attempted to immolate self on the Avinashi road near Peelamedu.

DMK Ward Secretary T Murugan (53) and cadre S Singai Sudhasivam (54) showed up at the spot and poured kerosene on themselves. Police deployed in the area rushed to their rescue in time. Both men were taken to Peelamedu police station.

In the afternoon, six cadre of Naam Tamizhar Katchi gheraoed a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus plying between Coimbatore and Mysore at Gandhipuram. Raising slogans against the Central Government and the BJP party, they attempted to damage the bus. However, police cleared them from the spot and arrested all six cadre.

Number of political party members arrested for protests in the city on Monday stood at 324, according to the police.

In Salem too, DMK members staged protests in various parts of the district. Party District Secretary MLA Panamarathupatti R Rajendran led the protest at Head Post Office near the New Bus Stand. In the second day of protest by the party, Rajendran said that the stir would continue till CMB was constituted. Likewise, on behalf of Salem West District DMK, cadre gathered before Edappadi bus stand and protested.

District secretary S R Sivalingam presided over the demonstration. On information, police arrived at the spot and tried to remove the protestors by force to clear traffic. This led to a quarrel between the two parties and, eventually, a cadre's shirt was torn. DMK members then raised slogans against the police as well. Over 200 of them were then detained.

In Dharmapuri, the protest held by DMK men at BSNL junction had over 100 participants raising slogans against the AIADMK and the BJP government. Leading the protest, MLA Thadangam P Subramani said that BJP State President Tamilisai Soundararajan was unwelcome in the State.

They dismissed the accusations against the party by BJP and Congress members, calling them blatant lies aimed to undermine the efforts of the party to get CMB formed. He also accused the AIDMK government for not taking a firm stand on the issue for the welfare of the people of the State.

In Tirupur, members of the Katchi Saarbatra Vivasayigal Sangam and Yearmunai Ilagnar Ani staged a rail-roko protest to condemn the Central government for not forming the Cauvery Management Board, on Monday. They got on the tracks and attempted to stop the Bengaluru-Ernakulam Express.

"The Central government should have formed the CMB to protect the livelihood of Cauvery Delta farmers. However, it keeps postponing it. The Centre should form the CMB immediately," the protestors demanded. They raised slogans against the Centre and Prime Minister Modi. Police arrested all protestors.

Call for bandh on April 5: An all-party meeting, with the DMK leading the front, decided to hold a bandh on April 5, condemning the Central government for not forming the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The meeting also decided on steps to gather support from traders, creating awareness among public and spreading the news by way of notices. Leaders of DMK, Congress, MDMK, VCK, etc., participated.

After the meeting, they conducted a protest in front of the Kumaran statue. A clash erupted, when police tried to remove them from the spot. Over 100 people were detained. Traffic on the Railway Bridge was heavily affected.