AIADMK posters vandalised at Thevar Jayanthi: Dhinakaran booked, seven supporters arrested

The 111th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar was celebrated across Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. Followers of Thevar, Mukkulathor community, are a considerable vote bank in the state.

Dinakaran, who is the joint-secretary of AMMK, too, paid a visit to Pasumpon to pay his respects to Thevar after the AIADMK ministers left. (File photo)

Seven members of AMMK, the party launched by sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, were arrested Friday morning on charges of vandalising banners at Thevar Jayanthi celebrations at Pasumpon town in Ramanathapuram district. Dhinakaran, who is also named in the case, refuted the charges.

Marimuthu, the assistant secretary of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam in Ramanathapuram, is among those arrested.

The 111th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar was celebrated across Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. Followers of Thevar, Mukkulathor community, are a considerable vote bank in the state.

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam travelled to Pasumpon, Thevar’s hometown, to participate in the celebrations organised by the AIADMK cadre.

A large number of AIADMK banners were put up on both sides of the road to welcome the CM.

Dinakaran, who is the joint-secretary of AMMK, too, paid a visit to Pasumpon to pay his respects to Thevar after the AIADMK ministers left.

According to reports, after Dinakaran left the venue, a mob vandalised the posters put up by AIADMK cadre.

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Thanga Thamizhselvan of AMMK said, “We are not responsible for the damage done to posters at Pasumpon. Does AIADMK think we are jobless and will indulge in such cowardly acts?”

Muniyasamy, the Ramanathapuram district AIADMK secretary, filed a case against Dhinakaran and his supporters at Kamuthi police station.

Based on the complaint, the Kamuthi police booked Dinakaran and 100 others under six IPC sections, including damage to public property, causing harm to public peace, etc.

Speaking to the reporters at his residence in Chennai on Friday, Dhinakaran said: “The public may have damaged the banners because of their dissatisfaction with the ruling party. But due to political grudge, AIADMK has filed a false case against us for damaging the banners and the police have arrested innocent AMMK party members who aren’t connected with this case at all. The police should stop this anarchy, otherwise, we will stage a huge protest.”

Janardhan Koushik

Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues. Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India. He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM. As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More

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