CHENNAI: As many as 500 DMK workers, including former ministers PK Sekar Babu and Ma Subramanian and Chennai Mayor Priya Rajan, were detained by the police on Monday for staging a protest demanding the removal of Minister for Human Resources Management D Sarathkumar from the cabinet.
The DMK students’ wing had called for the state-wide protest after a video of the minister, allegedly showing him consuming a narcotic substance during an IPL match, surfaced on social media. However, Chennai police had denied permission for the protest and arrested the protesters across the city.
Reacting to the arrest of DMK functionaries, party president MK Stalin criticised the TVK government for “intimidating the opposition while avoiding accountability.”
He alleged that while DMK cadres protesting against a minister who “appeared to have used narcotic substances” were being arrested, cases were being filed against former minister SS Sivasankar for criticising the government and raids were being carried out at the residence of former minister EV Velu.
DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi also accused the government of trying to suppress protests. Meanwhile, DMK advocate Saranya Natarajan lodged a police complaint, seeking an FIR against Sarathkumar.
