CHENNAI/THANJAVUR: The arrest of Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin from his Chennai residence on Tuesday morning, followed by his questioning at the Sengipatti police station more than 300 km away in connection with a case over his alleged derogatory remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and an actress during a protest in Thanjavur on August 3, saw many twists and turns throughout the day until he was released on station bail on Tuesday night.
The Thanjavur East police have booked a case against him under nine sections, including 196 (promoting enmity between groups), 192 (giving provocations with intention to cause riot), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 296 (b) (obscene acts and songs) of the BNS, Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and under Section 67 of the IT Act based on a complaint from Bairavi Shankar Raman, the Thanjavur Central District women’s wing organiser of the TVK.
When the police arrived at Udhayanidhi’s residence in Neelankarai, sources said an argument broke out between Joint Commissioner of Police Dr P Vijaya Kumar and Udhayanidhi’s wife Kiruthiga who insisted that he be allowed time to freshen up before being taken into custody. Former minister Ma Subramanian also lent support to the demand.
Meanwhile, security was stepped up outside the residence as hundreds of DMK cadre gathered and raised slogans condemning the police action. Additional police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order, while Chennai Commissioner of Police A Amalaraj supervised the security arrangements.
While the Madras High Court had made an oral observation of “no action” until the case was heard at 12 pm, sources told TNIE that a higher official of the Greater Chennai Police asked the senior official at Udhayanidhi’s house to arrest him before the case was being taken up by the high court.
DMK legal wing head N R Elango asked the police to check for the court’s instruction from the public prosecutor. A senior police official who checked with his higher-ups told Elango that there was no instruction.
After a nearly three-hour standoff, he was formally arrested by 11 am at his Neelankarai residence and taken to Thanjavur for further investigation.
Though he was scheduled to be questioned at the Thanjavur South police station, following the gathering of DMK cadre, the police decided to shift the questioning to the Sengipatti station.
The police van in which Udhayanidhi was brought from Chennai was stopped at the Sengipatti police station. After waiting for some time in the van, Udhayanidhi entered the police station around 6.45 pm.
The Thanjavur east police station inspector, K Manikandan, questioned him. Senior police officials, including Thanjavur Superintendent of Police E Sundaravathanam, were present.
Udhayanidhi was released on station bail at 8.15 pm after which he left for the Tiruchy airport to fly back to Chennai, sources said.
Mentioning the case registered against him a “diversionary tactic” by the state government, Leader of the Opposition and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin in Tiruchy on Tuesday night said a portion of his speech delivered during the party’s Monday meet had been “cut, copied and pasted” to create a controversy.
Addressing media persons at the Tiruchy international airport before leaving for Chennai following the Thanjavur police letting him go late in the evening, Udhayanidhi said, “I did not speak with any double meaning. I spoke with a single meaning and that was entirely in support of farmers.”
Recalling the police action earlier in the day, he said he fully cooperated when officers informed him they had come to arrest him. He also described the TVK-led government “a circus”, alleging that it arrests DMK MLAs while attempting to “purchase” AIADMK legislators.
Referring to the TVK’s deadly Karur stampede last September, he alleged that Vijay left the spot through the Tiruchy airport without meeting media. “The government thinks DMK leaders will be intimidated by police cases. We won’t go underground like the CM (Vijay) did after the Karur tragedy,” Udhayanidhi added.
Describing the Madras High Court order as a blow on the TVK government’s “fascist face”, DMK president M K Stalin accused the TVK government of using the arrest of his son and Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin to shift focus from its failure on the Cauvery water-sharing issue and the Mekedatu dam project.
Stalin said, “The dummy chief minister, who lacks administrative ability, has failed to bring Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and has not even been able to speak against the Mekedatu dam. Farmers are shedding tears in distress, while ministers are busy crying after watching the chief minister’s film. Tamil Nadu has a joker cabinet.”
In a statement, Stalin said the “massive” turnout at the DMK’s protest in Thanjavur against the proposed Mekedatu dam reflected “the outrage of the entire state” over the TVK-led government’s indifference towards safeguarding the state’s rights over the Cauvery. Stalin said the leader of the Opposition had exposed the government’s “administrative incompetence”.
Stalin alleged instead of responding politically to the criticism, the government chose to arrest Udhayanidhi. “Tomorrow the Assembly is set to convene and the budget is to be presented. The government has initiated this action (arrest) to ensure that he is not there,” he alleged.