Violence broke out in several parts of Tamil Nadu today after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was convicted in a graft case, with angry AIADMK supporters indulging in stone pelting and arson and forcing closure of shops.
Tension prevailed as protesters burnt effigies of DMK President M Karunanidhi, his sons M K Stalin and M K Alagiri and tore party posters in various places, including in Chennai and Madurai.
While some protesters pelted stones at the residence of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, DMK and AIADMK supporters clashed at Gopalapuram here.
A State-owned transport corporation bus was set on fire at Veppur village and some 20 buses damaged in stone-pelting in Cuddalore district, police said.
Stone-pelting incidents were reported in Ambattur here, Edapadi in Salem district, Cuddalore, and in Srirangam, Jayalalithaa’s Assembly constituency, police said.
Shops and commercial establishments downed shutters in various parts of the State.
Protesters also damaged two-wheelers parked alongside roads in Madurai, they said.
In Chennai, effigies of DMK leaders were burnt in the Poes Garden area.
In Madurai, AIADMK men blocked traffic and asked shops and business houses to close their units.
Police said some shops were ransacked and stones pelted in Tiruchirapalli and Dindigul.
Security personnel in large numbers have been posted to maintain law and order, police said.