MADURAI: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam unit here stripped Gopinathan, husband of Madurai Mayor Thenmozhi, of his party post and temporarily terminated his basic membership of the party following allegations of extortion by a private buyer’s club.
The club is a loose grouping of people that sells home appliances through what could be called multi-level marketing. It has its office at KK Nagar.
According to members of the club, Gopinathan coerced them to include a few cronies in the club and part with money.
On Wednesday, the club members approached Union Minister M K Azhagiri here with a petition and alleged that Gopinathan was threatening them. They marked a copy of the petition to the Chief Minister.
Though police sources said an First Information Report (FIR) was yet to be filed in the case, the city crime branch subjected Gopinathan to an inquiry here on Wednesday night.
Gopinathan was the former south zone chairman of the council. He was then made the local area secretary of DMK.
According to the club members, Gopinathan along with a few others had extorted money from the club’s managing director.
The petition also feared a threat to the lives of the managing director and his family.
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