DMK leader and former Fisheries Minister K.P.P. Samy was arrested here on Saturday in connection with the murder of an AIADMK functionary belonging to Tiruvottiyur in 2006.
A police team arrested Mr. Samy (48) at his residence in K.V.K. Kuppam. He was produced at the Ponneri Judicial Magistrate Court and remanded to custody. He was sent to Puzhal prison in the afternoon.
Sources with Tiruvottiyur police said the deceased Chellathurai and his friend Velu, both fishermen from K.V.K. Kuppam, went missing under mysterious circumstances in September, 2006. After their wives lodged complaints with the Tiruvottiyur police, ‘man missing' cases were registered and investigations conducted.
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A senior police officer said that in 2006 “an AIADMK group headed by Anjappan of the Kuppam had accused Samy's brothers and his group of misusing the funds meant for fishermen of the area affected by tsunami. This led to skirmishes between members of the two groups. During this time, AIADMK cadres Chellathurai and Velu went missing.”
As five years of police investigations yielded no results, Chellathurai's wife Premavathi and Velu's wife Valli lodged fresh complaints with Commissioner of Police J.K.Tripathy last month.
A special team arrested Tyson (19) and Sundar (21), both from K.V.K. Kuppam, on August 23.
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The duo confessed to having murdered Chellathurai and dumped his body in a bush near Puducherry. The local police found the body and marked it as unidentified.
Hours after the arrest of the two youths, Mr. Samy's brothers K.P.P. Shankar, K.P.P. Chokkalingam and four others surrendered in a Kancheepuram court. They were lodged in the Puzhal prison.
Mr. Samy's supporters gathered outside his house and raised slogans against the police and the State government.
As tension gripped the area, police personnel were deployed in a large number. Reacting to the arrest, DMK president M. Karunanidhi complained that Mr. Samy had been implicated in a false case.