Madurai/Tamil Nadu
More than 120 protectors belong to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) were arrested n Tuesday after they tried to storm a TASMAC liquor shop, demandint its closure, at Pallivasal Street in Goripalyam in the city.
Claiming that the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shop bearing No. 5137, located at the busy Pallivasal junction and has schools and colleges nearby, has become a nuisance to girl students, the protectors including women gathered in front of the Goripalyam mosque and marched towards the shop placed under intensive police cover.

web 01 - SDPI Protest to shut down liquor shop near Masjid & Temple - Madurai Goripalayam web 03 - SDPI Protest to shut down liquor shop near Masjid & Temple - Madurai Goripalayam web 04 - SDPI Protest to shut down liquor shop near Masjid & Temple - Madurai Goripalayam

When the protestors tried to close the shop, the police arrested them but were released later in the evening.
Participating in the protest, M Jaffer Sultan, Madurai District SDPI President, said Pallivasal Street was a crowded place with schools, temples and a mosque and hundreds of female college students belonged to Sri Meenakshi Government College for Women and American College would board buses.
Saying the shop often became a threat to commuters, especially women, he alleged that the contractor who ran the shop would open the bar attached to the shop at 8am itself.
“The authorities claimed that the shop was being operated from the place for more than three decades. But if people raise concern about it, it should be shifted or closed,” Jaffer Sultan said.