AIADMK workers attacked NDTV crew outside Jayalalithaa's home in Chennai
An NDTV team was attacked by AIADMK activists protesting after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's conviction in a corruption case today.
Protesters damaged the crew's equipment and the Outdoor Broadcast van outside Ms Jayalalithaa's residence in Poes Garden in Chennai.
NDTV's Uma Sudhir reported that the workers targeted the crew deliberately, broke their camera and called women workers who threw stones at the team.
"They came and picked a fight with us. They said you can't report in Hindi or Kannada. Only Tamil is allowed. Then they broke our camera," Uma Sudhir said.
Violence broke out in several parts of Tamil Nadu after the Chief Minister was found guilty of amassing illegal assets worth 66 crores and sentenced to four years in jail by a Bangalore court.
State Governor K Rosaiah called the state and city police chiefs and the Chief Secretary and asked them to maintain law and order.
The one-km stretch between Ms Jayalalithaa's home and that of DMK chief M Karunanidhi was particularly tense, as rival supporters lined up in large numbers.
Angry supporters of the chief minister and her AIADMK forced shops to close in some parts of the state and burnt effigies of leaders of the DMK, which pursued the case.
Security personnel in large numbers have been posted to maintain law and order, police said.
A state-owned bus was set on fire at Veppur village and some 20 buses were vandalized in the Cuddalore district, police said.