Raja denies involvment in abduction case

Chennai, Aug 12 (UNI) Sacked Tamil Nadu Handloom Minister N K K P Raja today denied his involvement in the abduction of a couple and their son at Perundurai in Erode district of the state to grab their 10 acres of land.

In a counter to the Hebeas Corpus petition, filed on behalf of the couple, the former Minister said the petition was filed with an oblique motive to defame him.

Mr Raja, who was dropped from the cabinet after the abduction issue came to light, said, ''the Habeas Corpus petition is liable to be dismissed as infructuous, since the alleged detenus (couple) appeared before the court and no further adjudication is legally permissible under law and on facts''.

He said all the allegations made in the petition against him were false and baseless. The allegations that five people had acted on his instruction was also a blatant lie.

''I am not able to ascertain the reason as why the petitioner in both the Habeas Corpus petitions and the alleged detenus have unnecessarily implicated my name as respondent and termed as a person conducting Katta Panchayat'', he said.

The detenus P C Palanisamy and his wife Malarvizhi were accused in various criminal cases. A casual reading of the allegations made against him in the petition would show that they were vague and without any substance, he further submitted.

''The entire story has been fabricated somehow or other to tarnish my image which I have earned in my political and social life for the past 25 years'', he said.

When the case came up for hearing, a division bench, comprising Mr Justice P K Misra and Mr Justice S Kannan, posted the matter for further hearing on August 20 and directed the Superintendent of Police Erode district and Perundurai Inspector of Police to file their counter by then.

Five others, including expelled AIADMK office bearer D Sampathkumar also filed their counters, denying the charges against them.

UNI XR/WS MDG MIR BST2021