Anti-nuclear activist S.P. Udayakumar was detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Tuesday and prevented from taking a flight to Kathmandu, where he was scheduled to participate in a consultation on human rights violations.
Immigration officials at the IGIA stopped him from boarding the flight on the basis of a ‘look-out circular’ issued by the Tirunelveli Superintendent of Police, Delhi Police said, confirming the development. Mr. Udayakumar has a large number of cases against him in connection with the prolonged agitation he has been spearheading against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tirunelveli district.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGIA) M.I. Haider said, “Mr. Udayakumar had to catch a flight to Kathmandu which was scheduled for 2-30 p.m. When he arrived at IGIA’s Terminal-3 to board the Jet Airways aircraft, he was stopped at the immigration counter. He missed the flight and was questioned by officials. The Delhi police have nothing to do with it.” The anti-nuclear activist was later let off in the evening after being questioned for several hours, he added.
Significantly, this has come barely a week after the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which Mr. Udayakumar heads, had opposed the Indo-Australian civil nuclear deal. In fact, at the Kathmandu meeting, Mr. Udayakumar was to highlight the alleged human rights violations by the government against the anti-KKNPP protestors for over two years now, according to Mugilan, another staunch anti-nuclear activist at Idinthakarai.
While Mr. Udayakumar has been freely moving around within the country addressing seminars and the like and had also contested the last Lok Sabha polls from the Kanyakumari constituency on an Aam Admi Party ticket, his arrest was expected after the elections with as many as 208 cases including sedition charges slapped on him. Yet, the Tamil Nadu police have so far not arrested him.
“When he tried to fly out of the country, the immigration officials, who stopped him at IGIA, New Delhi, contacted Tirunelveli SP K.S. Narenthiran Nair to enquire about the cases pending against him. We told the immigration officials about the cases that he is facing and the nature of the charges, based on which they’ll take appropriate decision,” police sources in Tirunelveli said.
