Kudankulam villagers abduct Udayakumar to stop surrender

Anti-nuclear movement leader, SP Udayakumar, gave up his plan to surrender to the police after he was whisked away by his supporters in a dramatic turn of events. Anti-corruption activist and soon to be politician also Arvind Kejriwal had also turned up at nearby Idinthakarai, the venue of a 48-hour hunger strike launched by anti-nuclear protesters, expressed his solidarity with them and was believed to have asked Udayakumar, convenor of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), not to surrender. [caption id=“attachment_452314” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Udaykumar was not allowed to surrender to the police: PTI[/caption] Udayakumar turned up at Idinthakarai and announced he would surrender at 9pm in the presence of a “prominent non-political national leader.” But the emotional protestors said they would not allow the surrender and soon thereafter, Udayakumar was whisked away by his supporters in a boat, leaving others clueless about his whereabouts. Earlier in the day he addressed over 1,000 protesters and said the protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant would continue even if he was arrested. The PMANE leader had earlier said he was surrendering as he had information that police were conducting a house-to-house search on the pretext that five of their men had been taken hostages by the protesters. He alleged that the Tamil Nadu government, backed by the Centre, were actively trying to repress and terrorise protesters. “I am not afraid of being arrested … even if they arrest me, people will continue the agitation,” he said. Police said the situation was calm but they are keeping a strict vigil. The entire road leading to Idinthakarai was heavily guarded and police could be seen in strength in and around Kudankulam which had turned into a battlefield between protesters and police on Monday. PTI