The former Transport minister and DMK’s strongman in Tiruchirappalli district, Nehru was taken into custody from Tiruchirappalli along with three of his associates, including former MLA Anbil Periyasamy.

They have been remanded to 15-day judicial custody. Nehru was later lodged in Cuddalore jail.

Nehru is accused of acquiring a piece of prime land in the heart of town, near Chattram bus stand by threatening and intimidating one Sreenivasan of Thuraiyur. Later, the district party office, ‘Kalaignar Arivalayam’, was built on the land.

There was also allegedly some coercion in the land transaction and the police action was based on Sreenivasan’s complaint.

Nothing wrong
“We have not done any wrong (in the purchase of land for constructing the party office building) and we will face this case legally,” Nehru told reporters in Tiruchirappalli after his arrest.

Nehru is the third former DMK minister to be arrested in connection with land grabbing in the recent weeks, the other two being former Agriculture minister  Veerapandi S Arumugam and N K K P Raja from Erode.

DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, reacting to the latest arrest, said the “powers-that-be are implementing an undeclared Emergency in the state.”

DMK boycott
The DMK has been boycotting the Assembly proceedings as the seats in the House  for party MLAs led by M K Stalwere not allotted as one bloc. Making his way to the lobby on a wheel-chair along with Stalin and a few other MLAs, Karunanidhi said, “The seat allotted to me individually does not enable me to go in a wheel-chair and occupy it.”
The party will decide its next course of action against the series of arrests after consulting functionaries at various levels,  Karunanidhi added.