PMK condemns arrest of party MLA

Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, Sep 10 (UNI) PMK Organising Secretary and MLA T Velmurugan today condemned the arrest of Party MLA V A T Kaliyavarathan for allegedly intimidating State Electricity Board officials and preventing them from discharging their duties.

Addressing the press, Mr Velmurugan blamed DMK Ministers K Ponmudi and Arcot N Veerasamy for the arrest and wondered if there was democracy in Tamil Nadu.

He claimed the Ministers intimidated the SEB employees into filing complaints against the MLA.

Mr Velmurugan said the party MLA was forcibly discharged from the government hospital in Cuddalore where he was admitted for a heart problem and imprisoned him.

He claimed Chief Minister M Karunanidhi who questioned if there was any democracy in the State when Mr Ponmudi was arrested under the previous AIADMK regime, 'had now chosen to remain silent.' Mr Velmuguran alleged when the DMK cadre grabbed lathis from police and hit his partymen during the recent PMK public meeting at Salem, the police only filed cases against his cadre.

Even as law and order was deteriorating in the state, the DMK government was only indulging in vendetta against the PMK, he claimed.

Mr Kaliayavarathan had visited a SEB sub-station at Karanaipozhichalur on August 30 and Arangandanallur SEB sub-station on September six and allegedly held out threats to the employees for frequently resorting to power cuts.

He was the second prominent PMK leader to be arrested by the state government, after the DMK snapped ties with the party.

The government had arrested J Guru, a senior office bearer of the party and detained him under the National Security Act (NSA).

UNI XR-GM MIR AS2035