Udhaya Arrested Amidst High Drama

 Chennai: Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was picked up by the police from his home in Chennai amidst high drama on Tuesday morning and driven down to Thanjavur, where he had allegedly made a double entendre remark against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay the previous day, was ordered to be released immediately after interrogation by the Madras High Court.

The early morning knock by a posse of police personnel at the DMK leader’s residence in the sleepy coastal enclave of Neelankarai soon woke up the whole of Tamil Nadu as it triggered arguments between his family members and aides, leading to the arrival of the media corps and the high and mighty of DMK, along with cadre, to the house.

As the crowds outside the house swelled, reinforcements were called in and top police officers, including Chennai City Police Commissioner A Amalraj, arrived at the spot. As the police officers from Thanjavur East Police station, where a complaint was filed by a TVK cadre on the double entredente, haggled with the family members and party leaders, the news of the impending arrest spread all over Tamil Nadu, triggering protests by DMK cadre.

When more police personnel from Chennai were requisitioned since top DMK leaders and lawyers came in support of the resistance to the arrest, the DMK legal wing approached the Madras High Court for an anticipatory bail. The court said that Udhayanidhi Stalin should not be arrested before the case was taken up for hearing before noon.

But the police officers continued to exert pressure on Udhayanidhi Stalin to comply with them and even declared that the allegation against him was serious as it was denigrating women. They said that they would have to use force to execute the arrest, which led to the DMK leader boarding the police vehicle that was blocked by protesting supporters, who squatted on the road.

Sitting inside the van, he spoke to media persons and said that he had been charged with saying something that he did not. The whole episode was aimed at diverting the attention from the real issue of Karnataka denying Tamil Nadu its due of water in the Cauvery, he said.

It took a while for the van to meander its way to the East Coast Road from where it headed towards Thanjavur. By then protests had erupted all over Tamil Nadu, including Chennai city, with DMK cadre demanding the release of their leader immediately.

Several protests were organized in different parts of the State as the van carrying the Leader of the Opposition drove towards Thanjavur. TVK cadre also held counter protests with a demand to arrest him in some places.

By afternoon, the High Court took up the case and ordered that he be let off immediately after questioning the same day itself, giving some hope to his party cadre who were worried over his possible absence from the Assembly on the day the annual budget of the State would be presented to the House on Wednesday.

After Advocate General Vijay Narayan told the court that the government had no intention of sending Udhayanidhi Stalin to judicial custody, Justice G K Ilanthirayan directed the police to release him on station bail after questioning, requiring him to cooperate with the investigations.