Tamils protest against Salman in Mumbai

Waving posters of late lTTE chief V. Prabhakaran, some Tamils Sunday protested outside Bollywood star Salman Khan's house here for visiting Sri lanka in support of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The demonstrators shouted slogans against the Bollywood star for going to Colombo with "Kick" co-star Jacqueline Fernandez, a former Sri lankan beauty queen, to campaign for Rajapaksa ahead of presidential elections. The Tamils flashed posters of Prabhakaran, who was killed by the Sri lankan military in May 2009. They also carried flags of the still outlawed liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (lTTE).

An officer from Bandra police station told IANS that policemen were deployed at Salman's residence during the demonstration. He said some of the protesters had been detained. Security has been increased outside the actor's Galaxy Apartment. Salman and Jacqueline went to Sri lanka last month and met Rajapaksa, who is facing a tough challenge from the opposition in the election set for Jan 8.

The lTEE was banned in India in 1992, a year after it assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.