A day after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa denied allegations of political vindictiveness behind the arrest of DMK men in connection with land grabbing charges, DMK president M. Karunanidhi insisted that the ways adopted by the police for filing cases against party leaders and arresting them smacked of political vendetta.
In a statement here, Mr. Karunanidhi said the arrest of DMK's South Chennai secretary and MLA J. Anbazhagan on a complaint from a person who himself was facing fraudulent charges was a pointer to his argument.
The complainant, Mr Karunanidhi alleged, was involved in forgery and purchase of mills through dubious means and the CBI had been inquiring into the case. “If the police act on the complaint from such a person, should it not be called an instance of vindictive arrest?” he asked. Former Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam was arrested on an anonymous complaint when he reported to the police station as per his bail condition, he noted.
Alleging that DMK's Tiruvarur district secretary Kalaivanan was implicated in a case related to a road accident in which a schoolboy was killed, Mr. Karunanidhi said former Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was also arrested because he questioned the motives of the police.
As regards Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's claim that Mr Stalin was not arrested, he said media reports provided proof for his arrest. Moreover, the Superintendent of Police in an interaction with media had said Mr. Stalin was arrested because he staged a roadblock.
“On Saturday, when reporters met me, they first raised the issue of Stalin's arrest. He was released in the wake of protests across the State and the Chief Minister is not ready to acknowledge the protests that broke out. That is why she says he was not arrested,” Mr Karunanidhi said.
As for Ms Jayalalithaa's demand that Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi respond to former Communications Minister A. Raja's charges against them, Mr. Karunanidhi said it was Ms. Jayalalithaa who had come forward to offer support to the Congress-led UPA government if Mr. Raja was dropped from the Union cabinet. “Now, she wants an explanation from the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi. The Congressmen who are keen for an alliance with the AIADMK should keep this in mind,” he said.
Later, the DMK announced that Mr. Karunanidhi would address a public meeting at Tiruvarur on August 6 to condemn the “false case” foisted on Mr. Kalaivanan.
