Sanjay Kumar, Salem Commissioner of Police, on Monday ordered the detention of M. Valarmathi, 23, a postgraduate student-cum-activist, under the Goondas Act. Those detained under the Act cannot come out on bail for a year unless their detention is quashed.
Valarmathi, pursuing final year MA (Journalism and Mass Communication) at the Periyar University here, was arrested along with Jayanthi, her friend’s mother, for distributing pamphlets, which police claimed contained objectionable slogans “harming national interest” in front of the Government Arts College for Women in Salem city on July 12.
The pamphlets distributed by Valarmathi under the banner of ‘Iyarkai Paadukappu Kuzhu’ (Nature Protection Group) carried slogans opposing the hydro-carbon and methane projects and also demanded withdrawal of police personnel from Kadiramangalam village.
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Soon after their arrest, the judicial magistrate court IV rejected the police’s remand plea against D. Jayanthi; however, it remanded Valarmathi in judicial custody for 15 days.
Police said about half a dozen cases were pending against her.