Summary:
Expressing concern over the harassment meted out to the TOI journalist, state general secretary of the association R Tamilnadu Selvam said attempts to threaten and thereby silence journalists were highly condemnable. Coimbatore: The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has demanded that the Coimbatore Corporation scrap contracts awarded to KCP Engineering Private Limited, in the wake of a Times Now expose on contractors benefited by local administration minister S P Velumani.Submitting a petition in this regard to corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan on Monday, AIDWA district secretary A Radhika condemned the alleged corruption in awarding the contracts and called for a thorough probe. “Attempting to tarnish the reputation of journalists and threatening cannot stop us from performing our duty,’’ he said.The Tamil Nadu Annal Ambedkar Sanitary Workers Association have also submitted a complaint against the contractor. Since there are corruption charges in awarding contracts to KCP Engineering, she said the contracts given to the company should be scrapped immediately.Even as DMK president M K Stalin condemned the threats issued by managing director of KCP Engineering Chandraprakash to a journalist and demanded his arrest, members of AIDWA also slammed the contractor.“The contractor should immediately be booked for using derogatory language to harass and threaten TOI journalist Komal Gautham,’’ Radhika said.Coming out strongly against the intimidatory tactics of the contractor, AIDWA submitted a separate complaint to city police commissioner K Periaiah requesting him to register a case against Chandraprakash.Members of the Coimbatore Press Club also condemned the contractor and lodged a complaint with the city police commissioner seeking immediate legal proceedings against Chandraprakash.Strongly condemning the attitude of the contractor, members of the Coimbatore Press Club led by president S Senthilkumar met the commissioner on Monday and urged him to initiate stringent action against Chandraprakash for abusing the TOI journalist..