Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Azhagiri held on conspiracy charge

By S. Vijay Kumar

Photo: K. Ganesan

M K. Azhagiri, who was arrested in Madurai on Wednesday, being taken to the Tiruchi central prison.

MADURAI MAY 21. In a swift predawn operation, the city police arrested M.K. Azhagiri, elder son of the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, here today for "conspiring" against T. Kiruttinan, former Highways Minister, who was murdered yesterday.

Within 24 hours of the killing, a posse of police personnel swooped down on the Sathya Sai Nagar residence of Mr. Azhagiri at around 5 a.m. and whisked him away to the Tallakulam police station here for interrogation. Later he was produced before the Sixth Judicial Magistrate, K. Vanitha, who remanded 52-year-old Azhagiri to judicial custody till June 4.

Mr. Azhagiri submitted a petition to the magistrate seeking first class treatment in prison, as he was an income tax assessee. He claimed that the charges levelled against him were "concocted" and "baseless". After a brief halt at the Madurai central prison, he was driven to the Tiruchi jail in a convoy of police vehicles.

Though the former Chief Minister's son offered no resistance, some of his loyalists raised slogans against the AIADMK Government for "falsely" implicating him and termed the arrest an act of "vendetta".

`Clinching evidence'

However, police officials claimed to have secured "clinching" evidence to prove Mr. Azhagiri's involvement in the murder. "A prima facie case has been made out against him. There are other vital clues warranting his arrest which cannot be revealed now," a top official said and added that the inquest also provided vital clues to the circumstances which led to the incident. Meanwhile, Mr. Azhagiri said he had nothing to do with the murder. "I have no personal enmity with Kiruttinan and we always enjoyed a good working equation. The senior functionary's death is an irreparable loss to the party," he told The Hindu.

Describing his arrest as "politically motivated", he said the police only requested him to accompany them for an enquiry. "This is another dictatorial act of this tyrannical regime."

The police registered a case under Section 302 IPC, read with Sections 34 and 120 (B), against Mr. Azhagiri. Special teams have been deployed to nab the suspected contract killers involved in the murder, police sources said.

The former DMK MLA, Rama. Sivaraman, was also arrested late in the evening at Tirupattur in Sivaganga district. However, the police said it was only a preventive arrest. Mr. Sivaraman, considered a trusted lieutenant of Mr. Azhagiri, was produced before a magistrate at Karaikudi and remanded to judicial custody.

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