NEW DELHI/MADRAS, 1 July — The dramatic arrest of a former chief minister of India’s southern Tamil Nadu state on charges of corruption prompted protests yesterday which led to the arrest of thousands of members of his party. In a predawn operation, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi, also leader of the regional DMK party, was picked up by city police for alleged corruption in the construction of 10 flyovers in Madras during his term in office which ended in May.
Karunanidhi’s nephew and Union Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran was arrested later in the day. The arrest warrant was served on Maran at a hospital bed where he was admitted following a scuffle with the police as he tried to prevent the arrest of Karunanidhi.
Union Minister for Environment and Forests T.R. Baalu, also of the DMK, was shown on television being manhandled by police as he was also arrested. Television footage showed Karunanidhi, 77, clad in a traditional white waist-cloth, shouting: “Oh God, they are trying to murder me,” as he was dragged out of his house by two policemen.
He claimed his arrest was spurred by a desire on the part of his archrival and current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalitha Jayaram, to settle political scores. Violence broke out as news of the arrest spread through Madras. Party officials said thousands of party workers had been arrested. Police sources said that between 4,000 to 5,000 people had been arrested all over the state.
A city magistrate ordered that Karunanidhi remain in police custody till July 10. Karunanidhi’s son and mayor of Madras, M.K. Stalin, who had gone underground following the arrest of his father, surrendered to police a few hours later. In New Delhi, Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley said the government was “deeply concerned with what is happening in Tamil Nadu.” Karunanidhi’s DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) party is powerful in southern India and has 12 members in India’s Parliament. It is a key ally of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s ruling coalition.
Party officials said several top-ranking leaders had gone into hiding. The arrest also evoked a strong reaction from Vajpayee. He called Karunanidhi’s arrest “condemnable and uncalled for.” A spokesman said he had sought a detailed report on the case from the state government. “The prime minister has conveyed his strong reaction to Jayalalitha about the arrest,” a spokesman from the prime minister’s office said in Delhi.
