Author: Indo-Asian News Service
Publication: NDTV.com
Date: August 25, 2011
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/former-dmk-minister-kn-nehru-arrested-in-land-grab-case-128976
Former minister KN Nehru of the DMK party
was arrested on Thursday in a land grab case and remanded to judicial custody
for 15 days.
Police officials said Nehru was taken into
custody from Tiruchirapalli, 320 km from here, was moved to Cuddalore prison.
Nehru's arrest came after the arrest of two
former DMK ministers - Veerapandi Arumugam and NKKP Raja. Arumugam was arrested
July 30 while Raja, who is now out on bail, was arrested on August 4.
Nehru, a former transport minister, was arrested
on a complaint by K. Srinivasan, a doctor, for forcibly acquiring his land
of around 13,000 sq ft on which the DMK district office was then built.
Nehru refuted the allegations and said he
would fight it out in court.
Three more people, including former DMK legislator
Anbil Periasamy, who were arrested Thursday morning in connection with the
same case, were also remanded to judicial custody.
Reacting to the arrest, DMK president and
former chief minister M. Karunanidhi told reporters that an "Emergency-like
situation" existed in the state.
Karunanidhi said the party would boycott the
house sessions as the seating arrangements for the DMK legislators were not
proper.
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had Wednesday
said in the assembly that the government had restored land valued at over
Rs.415 crore to their owners.
Out of 8,947 complaints of land grab, she
said, chargesheets were filed in three cases while 462 cases were booked.
At least 419 people were arrested.
The government has set up 25 special courts
and fast track courts to hear the land grab cases, she added.