AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Saturday demanded withdrawal of all cases against ‘Dina Bhoomi' editor S. Manimaran and his son M. Ramesh Kumar.
In a statement here, she said though they had been released on bail in the wake of strong resentment, there were reports that the police were planning to file new cases against them as they had exposed illegal granite quarrying. “When a petition in connection with granite quarrying is pending before the Madras High Court, the government arrested the journalists and is planning to file more cases against them. It is the height of repression,” she said.
Meet AIADMK chief
Later in the day, Mr. Manimaran and Mr. Ramesh Kumar met Ms. Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden residence and explained the events that led to their arrest.
Letter to Chief Minister
In the meantime, journalist organisations have written to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi requesting him to ensure that the two journalists were not subjected to any arrests in future.
Madras Reporters Guild president R. Rangaraj said the government should face legally any wrong reports instead of resorting to the arrest of the journalists. “The government should not register any cases against them in future.”
Tamil Nadu Union of Journalists president D.S. Ravindra Doss said the government should desist from taking further action against the ‘Dina Bhoomi' journalists as there were reports of filing of new cases.
Chennai Press Club joint secretary Bharathi Tamilan also urged the government not to resort to filing new cases against the journalists.
