TASMAC shops down shutters

CHENNAI: Several TASMAC shops in and around Pallavaram were shut on Thursday for two hours as employees picketed the Chromepet police station after their colleague was detained for questioning following a complaint that he had sold a liquor bottle at a price higher than the MRP.Police said 176 TASMAC shops were shut between 10 am and 12 noon as over 100 liquor shop salesmen and supervisors picketed the Chromepet police station to protest the detention of 26-year-old Gajendran of Urappakam. They demanded that the police let him off.Saravanan, a mason from Asthinapuram, had lodged a complaint at the police station on Wednesday night against Gajendran, a salesman with a TASMAC shop in GST Road, Chromepet, for selling a bottle of brandy at a rate higher than the MRP. When Saravanan questioned Gajendran, it led to an argument.Following a complaint, the police allegedly took Gajendran for inquiry on Wednesday night.On Thursday morning, TASMAC employees protested demanding that the police release the man.They said that departmental action would be taken against him. “There is a standing order that police cannot take action against a TASMAC employee independently. They can only act against senior TASMAC officials,” said Dhanasekar, state secretary, TASMAC employees union, affiliated to AITUC.The protestors alleged that a colleague of Gajendran, who worked in the same TASMAC outlet, had filed a complaint a few weeks ago against an influential person in the area for attacking him. They alleged that Gajendran was being targeted because the unnamed influential man wanted the complaint