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Net closes in on TTV Dhinakaran and his supporters after being booked under 'sedition' charges

  • Salem City Police booked TTV Dhinakaran and his 16 supporters on charges of sedition
  • They had distributed pamphlets on September 29 that allegedly contained defamatory remarks against the central and state governments
  • Dhinakaran supporter Venkatachalam had mentioned in the pamphlets that the state had become a slave to the central government and the BJP
TTV Dhinakaran supporters booked under sedition charges

Trouble seems to be piling up on sidelined former AIADMK deputy secretary TTV Dhinakaran. While he has tried vehemently to bring down the current Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu, he has landed himself in a soup after Salem City Police booked him and his 16 supporters on charges of sedition.

They had distributed pamphlets on September 29 that allegedly contained defamatory remarks against the central and state governments, accusing them for the death of medical aspirant S Anitha, who committed suicide after she scored low in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), said the police.

The Hindu reported that four supporters, including former MLA Venkatachalam were arrested on Monday, October 2. And a team has reached Chennai to arrest Dhinakaran and others involved.

"We arrested Venkatachalam, 52, M Chandran, 52, R Surya, 38, V Kalaivani, 33," said inspector of Annadhanapatty police station B Kumar to the Times of India. Police have registered a case under Sections 164, 143, 153, 500, 504 and 506(2) of the IPC.

TTV Dhinakaran supporters booked under sedition charges

Saravanan, an AIADMK functionary, had lodged a complaint with the Annathanapatti police alleging that when Chief Minister E Palaniswami had visited Salem to participate in the MGR birth centenary public meeting, some of the accused, who were supporters of Dhinakaran, had distributed pamphlets against Palaniswami and the State government. 

Venkatachalam had mentioned in the pamphlets that the state had become a slave to the central government and the BJP. 

Dhinakaran said that the chief minister was misusing his power as he is also the state’s home minister. "Unfortunately, Palaniswami became chief minister because of Chinnamma (Sasikala). The government will fall anyway. But since he is the minister for police, he wants to do (registering cases). It will not last long. Let them do what they want, but cadres and people are going to pack them home," TOI quoted him saying after he met reporters outside his residence.

The law itself has come under fire from legal experts and others saying that a colonial law such as this should be done away with. The law was introduced at a time when India was under the British rule and they used the law to stifle dissent.

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