The Hindu : Nedumaran held under POTA

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 02, 2002

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Nedumaran held under POTA

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI Aug. 1. The Tamil Nadu police today arrested another key LTTE supporter and the Tamil Nationalist Movement leader, P. Nedumaran, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

A consistent campaigner for the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr. Nedumaran was picked up at 9-50 p.m. from his Mylapore residence and remanded to judicial custody till August 28 by the designated judge for POTA, L. Rajendran.

Mr. Nedumaran was to leave for Kuala Lumpur by an Indian Airlines flight early on Friday morning.

Police sources said that Mr. Nedumaran had been arrested for the pro-LTTE speeches he made in the past few months and especially during a conference he organised in the city on April 13, where the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, a prime accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was hailed as the hero of the Tamils.

At the meeting, he urged the Centre to provide medical assistance for the ailing political adviser of the LTTE, Anton Balasingham, in Chennai, which demand was stoutly opposed by the Tamil Nadu Government.

Immediately after his remand, Mr. Nedumaran told mediapersons that he would continue to support the LTTE as it was the only organisation which fought for the cause of Eelam Tamils. ``I will not be cowed down by the repressive measures of the police,'' he said.

With his arrest, a total of 11 persons have been arrested under the POTA in Tamil Nadu. About three weeks ago, the MDMK leader and NDA ally, Vaiko, and eight of his party functionaries besides another known LTTE sympathiser, Pavannan, were arrested under POTA.

The city police had initially registered a case against Mr. Nedumaran under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act in April, but after Mr. Vaiko's arrest, the POTA sections were also added and the case was shifted to the `Q' branch.

Later in a statement, Mr. Nedumaran said he would happily go to jail if it would help unite the Tamils across the world. He asked his party activists to continue ``their duty''.

A former Congress leader who took up the cause of Tamil nationalism in the 1980s, Mr. Nedumaran shot into prominence in the year 2000 when he led a team to negotiate the release of the Kannada matinee idol, Rajkumar, who was abducted by the bandit Veerappan.

Amid tight security, Mr. Nedumaran was taken to the Chennai Central Prison around 11.15 p.m. and later shifted to the Cuddalore jail.

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