TRICHY: Police prevented the members of a recently launched students’ party in Tamil Nadu when they tried a ' liquor drinking protest' in front of a Tasmac shop near the central bus stand in Trichy on Monday morning. The members of the party -- Vidiyalai Thedi – wanted to hold the novel protest demanding that the government impose prohibition in the state.

The Trichy police didn’t want the students to hold the protest as it might embarrass the state government which has been criticized for its liquor policy.

The students, including a few girls, entered into a heated argument with the police for preventing them from holding the protest. The police denied them permission claiming that it was “an unlawful assembly.”

The students claimed that it was their right to drink liquor to express their protest and said the police should not stop them from drinking.

The students later tried to hold the protest inside a bar attached to the Tasmac liquor shop. But the police denied them permission for that too.

The standoff between the students and the police lasted for half an hour. The police forcefully removed 16 protesters from the spot and arrested them.

