Emotional support for Jayalalithaa in Bangalore

About 500 men and women from Tamil Nadu crossed into Karnataka Sunday to extend emotional support to jailed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Carrying posters with pictures of 'Amma', as Jayalalithaa is popularly known, the protesters from Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Hosur areas staged a demonstration on the city's outskirts.

Police prevented them from going to the central jail where Jayalalithaa was sent to late Saturday after being sentenced to four years in prison for corruption.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in an one-kilometre area around the prison.

"We will not budge from here till we are allowed to meet Jayalalithaa. She is our Amma and did so much for our welfare. It is unfair to jail her. The case was politically motivated," a group of women said, sobbing and screaming.

Protesters indulged in hysteria, wailing and chest-thumping at the site. They raised slogans against DMK president M. Karunanidhi and his younger son M.K. Stalin for having filed the case against Jayalalithaa.

Fearing trouble, police erected barricades at checkpoints and cordoned off the area to prevent the AIADMK supporters from marching towards the jail.

"As assembly of people near the jail is banned, we cannot allow them (to proceed)," a police official told IANS from the spot.

Many AIADMK leaders and supporters were turned away as they did not have special passes to visit the jail.

Police caned the protesters whey they tried to breach the barricades.

Three Tamil Nadu ministers, including O. Pannerselvam, and two party lawmakers were allowed to meet Jayalalithaa in the jail earlier in the day to discuss the fallout of her disqualification as a member of the state assembly after being convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In a related development, more police forces were deployed across Bangalore, especially in areas where Tamils reside in large numbers.