NEW DELHI: Adding a new twist to the ensuing political crisis in the State, AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran was arrested by the Delhi Police on Tuesday midnight.
Dhinakaran, who was being questioned by the cops for the past four days, was arrested after a court, hearing the bribe charges against him, pulled up Delhi police for not taking action. Dhinakaran’s friend Mallikarjuna was also arrested for allegedly sheltering him.
Dhinakaran has been accused of attempting to bribe Election Commission officials to reclaim the party’s disputed two leaves symbol that was frozen by the department.
The police had arrested Sukesh Chandrasekar, who allegedly operated as Dhinakaran’s middleman to negotiate with the officials.
Reacting to the arrest, V Pugazhendi, spokesperson of the AIADMK (Amma) said the case was ‘foisted’ and ‘politically motivated’.
“Since Dhinakaran is handling the party affairs efficiently, he has been framed. We will take steps to move bail petition and to prove it is a foisted case,” he told a news channel.
Earlier on Tuesday, a special court hearing the case questioned police for not taking action against the 53-year-old.
“What action has been taken against Dhinakaran? The whole allegation is against him. Why are you not taking action against him?” Judge Poonam Chaudhary asked the Delhi police’s Crime Branch. The court also extended police custody of Sukesh by another three days for further interrogation into the hawala network.
Earlier in the day, leaders of the party’s squabbling camps claimed the ambience was good to hold merger talks.
The ruling faction held a meeting with party’s district secretaries, chaired by CM ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami.
This is the first such meeting after the revolt by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. “A good ambience is evolving in both the factions for talks,” OPS said.