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I was not permitted to meet Stalin: Baalu

By Our Special Correspondent

CUDDALORE APRIL 12. The Union Minister for Environment and Forests, T.R. Baalu, today alleged that he was not allowed to call on the DMK youth wing chief, M.K. Stalin, and other party MLAs, detainelodged in the central prison here, though a `formal request' had been made to the State Government.

Mr. Baalu, who along with the local MP, Adhi Sankar, proceeded to the prison around 4.30 p.m., was stopped at the entrance itself.

Later, he told presspersons that he had asked jail authorities to contact higher-ups as a formal letter on his behalf was already submitted to the Home Secretary.

But the authorities told him that they had not received any instruction to grant him "special permission" to meet the MLAs on a holiday, he claimed.

Mr. Baalu said the DMK MLAs and party activists were not convicts and it was `unjust' that a Union Minister was not allowed to meet them. In fact, he had intimated his intention to the Prime Minister's Office which, in turn, conveyed the message to the State Government. The episode "only betrayed the repressive nature of the State Government."

Meanwhile, prison sources said visitors were not allowed to meet inmates on official holidays, including Saturdays and Sundays.

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