The Karur town police on Saturday arrested Ananthakumar, 42, a journalist working for a private television channel and an online portal, for posting controversial remarks against Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabaskar on WhatsApp.
Acting on a complaint from M. Kannan, 43, of Ganapathipalayam near Pavithram, a reporter with another online portal, the police arrested Mr. Ananthakumar under Sections 294 (B) (Uttering obscene words in public place), 203 (Spreading false information), 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (1) (Criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act (Publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form).
After preliminary enquiry, Mr. Ananthakumar was produced before a magistrate and remanded for 15 days.
The complainant alleged that Mr. Ananthakumar had posted and circulated a message on WhatsApp linking Mr. Vijayabaskar with the recent income tax searches at a few stone-crushing units in Karur district.
Meanwhile, the Chennai Press Club has condemned the arrest of Mr. Ananthakumar. In a statement, it said the trend of misusing the police to prevent people from criticising the rulers posed a severe challenge to freedom of expression.