A group of persons, who were on their way to Thiruvananthapuram to participate in a protest against NRI businessman B. Ravi Pillai, were taken into custody by the Kollam East police here on Wednesday.

The bus from Oachira with nearly 60 protesters was stopped at Chinnakkada around 8 a.m. and the protesters were released in the evening. According to the police, action was taken as a preventive measure as another group had staged a protest in front of Mr. Pillai’s home in Kollam last month.

Reportedly, the protest was organised by a collective, all of them expatriates working with NSH Corporation, who alleged that they were terminated from service without any benefit and the company was owned by Mr. Pillai.

“Around 500 persons from 12 States were fired from the company without any reason. We had conducted a press meeting in Thiruvananthapuram and the Secretariat march was announced earlier. We were taken into custody as part of a malicious plan,” said a protester.

Meanwhile, RP Group representatives said that NSH Corporation was a company owned by a Saudi citizen and at present Mr. Pillai had no connection with it.

“Mr. Pillai had served as the managing director of the company till 2014 and after that, he was not associated with the company. Some persons are deliberately trying to tarnish the image of RP Group and its chairman Mr. Pillai. When they staged a protest in Kollam on January 30, we had asked for documents proving they were employees of RP Group and none of the protesters could provide that so far. The Kollam city police and the Crime Branch are investigating the case,” said Anantha Krishnan, administration manager of RP Group.