TIRUPATI: A day after staging a massive dharna near the Alipiri toll gate, private taxi operators and drivers assembled in big numbers in the temple town on Thursday in protest against restrictions imposed on private taxis operating between Tirupati and Tirumala. Police lathicharged the taxi drivers who turned unruly during a dharna in front the administrative building of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Nearly 1,000 taxi drivers squatted in front of the TTD office and raised slogans against the temple management after the talks with it failed. They said their lives turned upside down with the `illogical' decision of TTD and demanded lifting of the restrictions imposed on the plying of their vehicles in Tirumala. They tried to barge into the building and stop the employees from entering the office. Police swung into action at this stage. On seeing the cops, the protesting taxi drivers pelted them with stones. The drivers and cops clashed with each other.